A former employee Ursula at the 2014 Halloween party at the Coliseum.
By Peter McDermott
St. Patrick’s Day is the standout day of the year for many bars, while New Year’s Eve is special for others. Some, though, prefer the lead up to Christmas and the multiple parties involved in the season. But the Coliseum, at 312 West 58th St., in Manhattan, is likely unique in putting Halloween and Marathon Sunday atop their list.
Add Thanksgiving and you’re talking about a happily busy time in the coming weeks for Kathleen Reilly and her staff at the two-story bar and restaurant.
Coliseum is one of those places that one descends three steps down from the street level to enter. “And you never know who you might meet,” Reilly said.
It could be a construction worker or a celebrity, or someone who works for CNN, Time Inc., Time Warner or Steelcase, or indeed any of the nearby companies. It’s popular also with people who live in the neighborhood, including those involved with community groups associated with St. Paul the Apostle Church.
“The friendliness is part of the reason for our success,” Reilly added.
The bar got its name from the convention center that was across the street for more than 40 years through 2000, but it has built its reputation, in part, on its closeness to the routes of both the New York City Marathon and the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“We get a lot of spectators,” Reilly said.
On Sunday, Nov. 6, as after previous marathons, runners and their families will meet at the bar and restaurant after the race.
“So if you want to congratulate the runners, you can do so here,” she said.
However, the emphasis ultimately is on getting the runners seated in a cordoned-off space. As of Monday this week, the Coliseum had six groups booked in, ranging in size from 15 to 25 people.
“We have a lot of people coming over from Ireland this year,” Reilly said.
Kathleen Reilly, owner of the Coliseum.
PHOTO: PETER MCDERMOTT
Halloween will be a big deal, too, like every year, though they’ve decided to have the party on this evening “to get the weekend off to the perfect start.” On the night of the 31st itself, Monday, the bar will host a Halloween-themed trivia night. Such trivia events happen regularly on Mondays and Tuesdays, with “Harry Potter” and “Friends” among the upcoming themes.
Other Coliseum regulars are the all-day corned beef and cabbage special on Thursday. It’s also a bar specializing in football, soccer and once-off sporting occasions like the Conor McGregor fight next month.
Many of the events take place on the second floor, which was fully renovated four years ago. The last previous renovation was back in 2004 when Reilly took over as a partner.
“I’ve been in the business all my life,” she said.
Her father was Paddy Reilly, from Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, not to be confused with the singer of the same name from Ballyjamesduff in the same county. Her only sibling, though – actor and singer Colm Reilly – is in show business.
The elder Reilly had run the Emerald Pub on Spring Street before taking over the Coliseum in 1978. He died in 2013 and is survived by his wife Angela, a native of Armagh. (His first wife, and Kathleen’s mother, Helen, also from Armagh, died in 1987.)
Paddy Reilly took over one of the oldest bar spaces on the West Side in a different time. The area around Columbus Circle was rather less affluent 40 years ago. But his daughter Kathleen does her best to ensure it’s still a neighborhood place that “carries on the traditions” of hospitality, those three steps down from the street.
The Coliseum is located at 312 West 58th St. For more information go to www.coliseumnyc.com.
