PEEKSKILL, N.Y. Downtown eateries got a welcome holiday business boost Saturday night thanks to a new city event, the Pub and Grub Crawl.
The event, sponsored by the Peekskill Business Improvement District (BID), comprised of a series of events at different times all night long, allowing revelers to flock from one to another.
Seven city dining establishments took place in the event: Division Street Grill, BeanRunner Cafe, 12 Grapes, Nellie's Cafe, Reuben's Mexican Cafe, Birdsall House and The Quiet Man Public House. Several other establishments also stayed open to welcome city visitors.
At the BeanRunner Cafe, pub crawlers filed in just before 8 p.m. as a gypsy jazz band was getting ready to perform at its Christmas CD release party.
The cafe was one of several venues that offered holiday specials to crawlers dressed as Santa, which led to an abundance of red and white costumed up and down North Division to Main Street. Owner Ted Bitter said he thought it was a great idea.
"Last week I went to visit my sister who lives in Greenwich Village and it was just insane with all the red Santa suits," Bitter said. "If we fail at this, then we haven't given out enough Santa suits. I don't mind giving out free wine if they have Santa suits it makes it merry."
The city has had holiday pub crawls for years but there had never been any attempt to actually organize one until now, said BID board member Frank Cimino.
"This is just the beginning," Cimino said. "We're going to continue this every year and improve on it and make it better. As we get more restaurants and pubs in Peekskill we'll be expanding."
Quiet Man Pub owner Chuck McGreal said his establishment would be doing a happy hour and giving away merchandise and gift card giveaways when his bar was featured at 11:45 p.m.
"I think it's good way for people to get around downtown and highlight what Peekskill has to offer," McGreal said. "This town has a lot of great businesses and a lot of diversity as far as food and drink and there's a lot to see."
"Originally we were going to take people on the crawl but then they decided the places were too close together so that didn't make sense," Masson said. "But we've picked people up an taken them to the Beanrunner and Reuben's and we took some people on a mini lights tour"
At 12 Grapes there was a full house of diners on hand to see a 10-piece Jazz band. Owner Frank Credidio said that while the band probably would have drawn a full house anyway on a Saturday night, having dozens more people stop by for drinks was a welcome plus.
"It absolutely helps," Credidio said. "They came in, about 40 or 50 of them, for about 45 minutes. That bar hour with everyone in Santa Claus outfits was great."
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