Cheers to Finnegan's 100 years in Huntington
Finnegan's Restaurant and Taproom in Huntington will celebrate the end of its first century later in July 2012. This is an undated picture of the family that started the business, from left, Andrew Finnegan and his sons Andrew, Patrick and William. Credit: Handout
Hugh Carey, the late governor of New York State, used to drop in for a drink. So did Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley.
Their occasional watering hole was Finnegan's Restaurant and Taproom on Wall Street in Huntington village, a tavern widely called the "Cheers" of the town, after the popular '80s sitcom.
There is so much history to Finnegan's that, as the bar-restaurant celebrates its 100th anniversary this month, Huntington Town is closing down Wall Street from 6 to 10 p.m. July 28 to allow for a full-blown celebration.
"It's always been the place to go," said general manager Tom Forte, who has worked at the place for 22 years. "Every college reunion, people come to Finnegan's."
Forte is not just boasting. The place has that kind of reputation, said Toby Kissam, executive coordinator of the Huntington Historical Society. "I grew up in the town of Huntington," Kissam said. "It's the kind of place where, as soon as you came of [drinking] age, you went there."
It all started in 1912, when Irish immigrant Andrew Finnegan opened a bar at Huntington House, an inn built a century before at the corner of Wall and Main streets in the village. It quickly became a hangout for local business people and politicians eager to scoop up the latest gossip. During Prohibition, a code word was needed to get into Finnegan's, which had moved to its current location.
Finnegan's son, William, ran the bar after his father. William was irascible, cantankerous and wore a crisp white shirt and dark tie every day. He tolerated no nonsense in his bar, according to relatives. William died in 1994. Finnegan's is now owned by the Lessing catering family.
The celebration will begin July 27, with a reunion of bartenders from the 1960s, '70's, '80s and '90s, Forte said. Some will be coming from as far away as the Carolinas to attend. Huntington Town is preparing a proclamation for Finnegan's, said town spokesman A.J. Carter.
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