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EXCLUSIVE: Killarney Pub closing tomorrow after farewell bash

EXCLUSIVE: Killarney Pub closing tomorrow after farewell bash
Photo by Georgine Benvenuto

The luck of the Irish has run out.

Bay Ridge institution Killarney Pub is closing on Oct. 9 after 90 years. The bar’s owner said business had been drying up for some time.

“The bar has been in the tank for the last five years,” said barkeep Paddy Finn. “The writing was on the wall even then.”

Finn had been trying to sell the building for more than a year, but an initial deal fell through after seven months of talks.

Local jeweler Ibrahim Salem bought the building on Oct. 3 for $1.3 million. Salem said he may put a medical facility in the space, but has not made any formal plans.

The building’s main draw was simply that it was on the market, according to Salem, who is also an avid real estate investor.

“It was a building for sale so we wanted to buy it,” he said.

But Finn, who has owned and operated the Fifth Avenue bar since 1997, says he hasn’t poured his last pint just yet.

“I’m actively looking for a new location,” he said. “I’m very open, but I’d prefer outside of Bay Ridge.”

Finn said the neighborhood’s growing population of Muslims, who abstain from alcohol, has made the Ridge a less desirable place to pull pints.

“It’s the changing of the guard,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that don’t drink.”

Finn is throwing a party on Thursday where he and his patrons will celebrate the bar they loved in the best way they know how.

“I’m going to get drunk,” Finn said.

Killarney Pub Closing Party at Killarney Pub (6911 Fifth Ave. between Bay Ridge and Ovington avenues). Oct. 9, from 4–10 pm.

Reach reporter Max Jaeger at mjaeg‌er@cn‌gloca‌l.com or by calling (718) 260–8303. Follow him on Twitter @MJaeger88.
Fare thee well: Bay Ridge institution Killarney Pub is closing Oct. 9 after 90 years in business on Fifth Avenue.
Photo by Georgine Benvenuto