Dee Flattery moved from a small town in Ireland because “there was nothing happening at home, really,” she said. Her pub in Astoria not only welcomes families, but it looks out for them, too. Several years ago, when a local boy was diagnosed with cancer, neighbors descended on the pub for a benefit. Gabriel Santini, the boy, is now a teen, and is pictured here standing to her right. The pub, like the block, is filled with a multiplicity of cultures. On a recent Saturday, however, it was decidedly Gaelic, with an Irish mother visiting her New York-based daughters, who filled the pub with Irish music and shoeless step dancing. The mother supervised the activities with a keen eye—and her own step at the ready.
There are more recent immigrants, too, Flattery says, from Brooklyn. “Five years ago, I’d meet people every day who say they’re moving to Brooklyn. Now I hear people are moving back from Brooklyn,” she said. “You can’t take my word because I don’t know Brooklyn, but I don’t think it’s as cool as people think it used to be. A lot of people are definitely moving back.”
The Quay, like most Irish pubs in the area, plays host to a variety of performers. Flattery quickly rattled off the names of other area pubs that provide home to artists. “We have open mic on Thursday nights, and then everybody bar hops—all the music industry stays together,” she said. “They go to The Shillelagh, The Brewery, Passage, Wolfhound, Irish Whiskey Bar, The Irish Rover, Conan and Finnegan’s, and Stones Corner. Everybody has different nights, and everybody comes together and stays together.”
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