Petition Started To Co-Name Wash Heights Street 'Coogan's Way'

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Coogan's restaurant and bar shuttered in April after a legendary 35-year run in Washington Heights, but a community-based effort is now looking to immortalize the name in the neighborhood.

A petition was started recently to co-name the northwest corner of Broadway and West 169th Street to Coogan's Way.

It is the same street that Coogan's served the community for over three decades.

"Coogan's was a beloved neighborhood institution and one of the mainstays of life in Washington Heights," the description of the petition reads. "Coogan's represented the best of what New York aspires to be: inclusive, diverse, and egalitarian."

The petition has 849 signatures of its 1,000 count goal as of Monday morning.

"Coogan's was the HQ of Upper Manhattan. The place where problems were solved," one person wrote for his reason for signing.

Coogan's has been closed since April, but the shuttered Washington Heights bar hasn't stopped helping the community.

In August, Coogan's partnered with Facebook and the United Way to help raise money for small businesses in Upper Manhattan. Facebook matched up to the first $100,000 in donations, and the fundraiser ended up collecting $114,000.

At the beginning of 2021, Coogan's announced the 22 Upper Manhattan businesses the money would be going to — including the Community League of the Heights and the Word Up Community Bookshop.

Additionally, two original owners of the bar, David Hunt and Peter Walsh, donated Christmas lights they used each year in the bar to help decorate 2020 community tree lightings in the neighborhood.

You can find the petition and read the full description — here.