The Irish Cottage, Forest Hills, Queens
The Irish Cottage in Forest Hills, Queens has permanently closed after having been open since 1960.
The cost of closing dine-in operations, which New York City and its boroughs did on March 17, sealed the Irish institution’s fate as it could not profit off the sparse takeout orders it received.
Owner Danny McNulty, whose family has always owned and operated the restaurant, believes bars like his will be hard to maintain when occupancy limits begin post-lockdown.
He told The Forest Hills Post, “There will be no more mom-and-pops after this.”
The restaurant applied for and failed to receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the Small Business Administration.
The matriarch of the McNulty family, Kathleen McNulty, passed away from COVID-19 a month before the restaurant’s permanent closure.