Luck of the Irish

Once before, in 1992, financial troubles led to a change in management at the Beekman Pub, which has served tradition IRish food on Beekman Street for almost 50 years. THis time, the pub tries hard to keep it's current good luck streak and emerge unchanged from the last recession.

The Beekman is a pretty average pub - so average that there aren't really any reviews about it. But it make sup for this lack of glamor by offering a different type of charm - the look, feel, scent, and taste of the Irish bar scene.

It's just like a tradition Irish pub, but not quite as rowdy, according to bartender Jim Galloghly. The Irish accents of the pub's two staff members seduce businessmen into the pub's wooden doors and away from the parking garage, Dunkin Donuts, and ongoing construction outside. Inside, the dim lights of the dining area and music waftering over from the bar make it the perfect place to kick back, relax, and down a glass of cold beer.

"It's a fun place to come with a friend and forget about problems for a while," Pace University Junior Elina Kolo said.

Alongside soup bowls ($4) and the well-known Beekman Sirloin ($42), the pub offers dishes like bangers and mash, a well-known IRish plate of potato and sausages. Although the menu isn't too extensive, it promises free Irish soda bread and teaches you real Irish phrases while you wait for your ood, like 'beoir' (pronounced beeyore) which means 'beer.'

But if you plan on eating there, you have to hope that Waitress Esther Sweeney doesn't forget exactly what you ordered as she takes orders and brings out moderately warm food to the businessmen, tourists, and regulars dining in the well-worn booths.

Now, as the economy threatends to keep customers away from the pub, Sweeney finds hope in the construction of a 76-floor high-rise across the street. Use of the building will range from education, to retail, to residential apartments, according to Skyscraper Source Media Inc.

However, the building will bring "a different kind of clientele" to the pub, Galloghly said. Although this new influx of customers would assuage some of the staff's eocnomic concerns, it might also create new ones. Regular customers don't want the pub or its patrons to change.

"If the pub changes too much, I might not go there anymore," regular customer Paul Falcone said. So ar, the pub has only undergone minor changes, including the addition of two flat-screen televisions, on which Falcone enjoys watching the football game.

No one can really predict yet what will happen to the Beekman Pub. The owners just plan to "handle one thing at a time," Eddie Robinson said in a phone interview.