The Economist - USA (2020-05-16)

22 United States The EconomistMay 16th 2020

2 dent”,becausesubpoenasrequireonlya

“conceivablelegislativepurpose,andyou

can’tthinkofa singleexampleofa sub-

poenathatwouldn’tmeetthattest?”

Justice Elena Kagan sought to elicit

morepersuasiveresponsesfromMrLetter

andvividlydepictedMrTrump’srequestas

placinga “ten-tonweightonthescalesbe-

tween thepresident and Congress”.Yet

evenJusticeStephenBreyer,a memberof

theliberalwing,worried thattheHouse

subpoenasmightbeundulyburdensome.

Hewasbothered,hesaid,bytheprospectof

ared-baiting “futureSenator McCarthy”

haranguing“afutureFranklinRoosevelt”.

Whenrulingsarrivethissummer,Mr

Trumpmaywina majorityinTrumpv Ma-

zars—keepinghisfinancesoutofthenews-

papers,fornow.Butheseemslikelytolose

Trumpv Vance, theclashovertheNewYork

subpoena(ifso,onlythegrandjurywould

beprivytoMrTrump’srecordswhilehere-

mainsinoffice).InVance, JaySekulow,Mr

Trump’slawyer,offereda royalistvisionof

thepresidencyshieldedby“absoluteim-

munity”fromcriminalinvestigation.But

hestruggledtoexplainhow,in1997,the

courtcouldunanimouslyorderBillClin-

tontoappearfordepositionsina sexual-

harassment suit, whereas a grand jury

probingMrTrump’sallegedpayoffstopar-

amourswasconstitutionallybarredfrom

peekingatthepresident’spapers.

Noel Francisco, the solicitor-general,

defendedMrTrumponsomewhatlessout-

landishgrounds.CareyDunne,ablyrepre-

sentingMrVance,arguedthattheinvesti-

gationwas“wellwithinthescopeoflegal

processpermittedbythiscourt”since1807.

If thejustices side withMr Trump,Mr

Dunnewarned,presidentsmaywindup

uncheckedand“abovethelaw”. 7

S

t patrick’s daywas nearly two months

ago, but shamrocks and leprechauns

still decorate the windows of shuttered

New York City Irish pubs. On the eve of one

of the most profitable weeks of the pub

year, in an attempt to stop covid-19 from

spreading, City Hall closed down Irish

pubs, along with other bars and restau-

rants. Some will never reopen.

“Even before the lockdown, the struc-

tural problems causing the decline of the

Irish pub were already in place,” says Kevin

Kenny, a historian at New York University.

Many pubs in New York and Boston were

struggling. Increases in rents and the mini-

mum wage were eating into profits. And

drinking habits have changed. Boozy

lunches are frowned upon. People want

healthier food than traditional pub fare. To

survive, some pubs are becoming less

overtly Irish. “You can’t get away with

shepherd’s pie and chicken potpie any-

more,” says Sean Hayden, co-owner of four

establishments in midtown Manhattan.

Doyle’s Cafe in Boston pulled its last

pint last year, ending 137 years in business;

its owners sold its coveted liquor licence

for a reported $450,000. Coogan’s, after

nearly four decades in Manhattan’s Wash-

ington Heights, said it would close when it

faced a steep rent rise in 2018. That

prompted a public protest, and the owners

managed to renegotiate the contract. Now

the lockdown has done for it. It announced

last month that it would not reopen.

Some neighbourhood bars have a

chance of surviving the lockdown. It helps

that they often own the building (rents in

midtown Manhattan can be as high as

$60,000 a month). They have lower over-

heads than those catering to tourists and

the corporate-worker crowd. Their cus-

tomers tend to be regulars. But it won’t be

easy. Niall Henry, who owns three pubs in

Upper Manhattan, including Tryon Public

House, is open for food pick-up and deliv-

eries for first-responders, but has seen an

85-90% drop in revenue. Seamus Clarke,

who owns J.P. Clarke’s Saloon on McLean

Avenue, just north of New York City, would

be happy just to break even for the next few

years. Rory Dolan, who owns a normally

bustling pub on the same street, expects it

will be at least two years before there is a re-

turn to normal.

Mike Carty, owner of Rosie O’Grady’s in

midtown Manhattan, says he cannot see

reopening his usually busy pub until Octo-

ber at the earliest. He may rejig the layout.

Mr Clarke, meanwhile, will temporarily not

allow people to sit at the bar. An Irish pub

without bar service, he admits, is almost a

contradiction in terms.

Still, many owners are confident that

customers will be back. Mr Dolan thinks it

will be impossible to stop young people so-

cialising. Irish pubs such as McSorley’s sur-

vived Prohibition, when selling alcohol

was banned for more than a decade. Molly’s

Shebeen, operating since the 19th century,

spent Prohibition selling groceries.

Historically, “the Irish pub was the

place where business was done, jobs were

found and favours were traded, a very im-

portant social function,” says Mr Kenny.

Danny Price, an immigrant, says he got his

first job in America and his first apartment

through contacts made at J.P. Clarke’s. But

although politicians still hold functions at

pubs, they are no longer the hub for neigh-

bourhood political-party machines.

People will keep going for the craic(Irish

for fun). Not all pubs need to reinvent

themselves, says Andrew Rigie, head of the

New York Hospitality Alliance, an industry

group. “Sometimes just being traditional

and keeping to your roots is the best busi-

ness plan possible.” But the days when you

could slap an “O’Reilly’s” sign over the

front door and get crowds are long gone. 7

NEW YORK

Surviving covid could be harder than surviving Prohibition

Irish pubs

Craics in the business model

Last call