The Uptown Tweet of the Week goes to our Congressman Adriano Espaillat for the welcome news. Congratulations to @CoogansNYC @nyphospital on reaching an agreement tonight to #SaveCoogans #HandShake in #WashingtonHeights. #Coogans embodies the spirit of #NYC #NY13 @galeabrewer @Vegalteno @Lin_Manuel @jimdwyernyt The week began with the horrible news that Uptown institution, Coogan’s, would be closing this spring. Their landlord, New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH), wanted to raise the iconic restaurant’s rent by an additional $40,000 per month. The news hit the neighborhood hard. Coogan’s is the Uptown version of Cheers. It is sacred ground. This is when People Power comes into the picture. Once the word was out, Uptown mobilized. Elected officials, community stakeholders and patrons of this important Uptown institution spoke with one voice and within days NYPH changed its tune and a new agreement has been reached to keep Coogan’s open for years to come. This is a victory for our neighborhood, and hopefully, our city. We have power and when we use that power, we can enact change. Before the positive plot twist, when I was still reeling from the blow of the news of the closing, I reached out to my good friend and the official historian of Washington Heights, Robert W. Snyder, to see if he could put the whole affair in its proper perspective. Please hit up our site to www.UptownCollective.com to read his simply incredible and prescient piece. Entitled Amazing Things Have Happened Here: The Shared Mission of a Bar and a Hospital, the missive, published before Coogan’s had a new lease, ended with the following prophetic words: “Obituaries for Coogan’s are already being written. But with a fair accounting of all that a bar and a hospital can do together, and enough raised voices, maybe the good work can continue.” Jeff MacGregor of Smithsonian penned a must-read piece on Washington Heights’ own Frankie Lymon. Yet another massive fire has broken out Uptown. ABC News was onsite to cover the 7-alarm fire that broke out on 775 Riverside Drive recently. On the latest episode of the Latinos Out Loud podcast, the crew shares their bomb cyclone stories, discuss how the NY Times snubbed icon Rita Moreno and they even delve into the whole phallus-whitening craze. Oh snap, Bodega Bamz is back with a video for the infectious Diddy Bop. Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com. Led Black Editor-in-Chief The Uptown Collective The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
January 8 – January 13
