Though Long Island City today is an area of trendy restaurants and sleek high rise waterfront towers, it was once home to a large Irish immigrant community. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was built by America's most prolific church builder, Irish-born architect, Patrick Keely, with 600 churches around North America to his name. The local Irish community elected one of the most colorful politicians in New York City history, Paddy " Battle Axe" Gleason, the last mayor of an independent Long Island City, whose great architectural legacy is the amazing Public School #1, home to the Queens branch of the Modern Museum of Art. Walk a little, learn some local Irish history and enjoy a few laughs on this walking tour of our beloved neighborhood.

TOUR GUIDE

Geoffrey Cobb, from Lurgan, Co. Armagh, is a history teacher at the historic Erasmus Hall. Mr. Cobb writes for the Irish Echo, Irish America magazine and the New York Irish History Roundtable, where he is Vice President for Local History. Mr. Cobb is the author of four books on the history of North Brooklyn as well as The Irish in New York: Profiles of Irish New Yorkers Who Have Shaped The Empire State.

Duration 90 Min

$25