#Jimmy Neary, owner of iconic NYC pub Neary’s, dead at 91

One of New York City’s most beloved publicans has died.

Jimmy Neary, owner of the iconic Neary’s restaurant and pub on 57th Street and First Avenue, died peacefully in his sleep Friday night, his family announced. He was 91.

The cheerful, ever-smiling Irishman opened Neary’s more than 50 years ago, on St. Patrick’s Day in 1967. It’s been a New York City staple since.

“We want to thank you all for being a part of his life. Dad loved you all and he cherished being with you for the past 55+ years,” the family wrote in a statement posted on the door of Neary’s Saturday night. 

“You were all a critical part of his family and enriched his life in countless ways. As he always said ‘I love my life!’”

The restaurant is expected to be temporarily closed while the family mourns.

Neary’s funeral service will be held next Saturday at 10 a.m. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, presided over by long-time friend Cardinal Timothy Dolan, his daughter Una told The Post.

Una said her father always said he felt like he never worked a day in his life.

“What he did is what he loved, and he just loved people. It was all about people for him,” she said. “He would say he didn’t care if the restaurant ever made a penny, he just wanted to be around people.”

Friends and family of Neary will more than anything miss the incredible hypnotic effect he had on everyone he encountered through his candor and storytelling.

“My father had this unique ability to connect with anyone of any age about any topic. He was a great storyteller and people were just drawn to him, he was like a magnet. He was extraordinary,” Una said.

Neary’s has been a longtime favorite St. Paddy’s day stop for a slew of politicians and other celebrities over the years, including former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and New York Gov. George Pataki. 

Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Hugh Carey, Ed Koch and Tip O’Neill are just some of the famous names who have taken a seat at the bar for a pint of Guinness.

Neary was known for personally greeting all of his guests, whose company who he relished.

“It’s lovely, this life,” Neary told The Post in an interview in 2013 about running his restaurant. “Everybody’s smiling. They might be a sourpuss when they come in, but they won’t be when we get done talking to them.”

“People just wanted to be around my father. He just has this energy, this love that touches people in a way that they never forget it,” Una said.

Neary got his start as a 15-year-old bar apprentice in the Irish town of Tubbercurry, in County Sligo, pulling in just a few dollars a week. That’s when a friend of his mother’s, who’d emigrated to the US, offered to sponsor him in America.

He arrived in 1954, found an apartment in The Bronx and a gig as a porter at the New York Athletic Club. Restaurateur P.J. Moriarty, a club member, took notice of the hardworking Neary and offered him a job at Moriarty’s namesake Sixth Avenue eatery.

He served a stint in the US Army, later becoming a full-time bartender at Moriarty’s, where he met his wife-to-be, Eileen. They married in 1963 and went on to have four kids.

He opened his own spot at 358 E. 57th Street with fellow bartender Brian Mulligan, who had spotted a newspaper ad for the property. They plunked down $500 for the lease and three months later, opened their doors.

After Mulligan died, Neary began working at the restaurant seven days a week, spending a significant amount of time away from his family. 

Una Neary recalls first seeing her father’s legendary hospitality when she began working in the coatroom at age 12. She’s been helping out part time ever since.

“I watched the magic of everything my father brings to that restaurant,” she said.

“I got to watch how he treats people, how he cares for people, how he connects with people.”

Many of Neary’s employees have worked there for decades, enjoying working under such a unique and kind boss. Loyal patrons have been finding the same barstool or booths for decades as well, which Una said is all owed to her father. 

One yearly tradition that the restaurant had just celebrated before his death was the annual surprise party for Neary every year on his birthday, Sept. 14, when customers pack the pub and “surprise” the bar owner with a big party.

“When we reopen our doors at Neary’s we will have the greatest toast to the greatest man I’ve ever known in my life.

“In New York City, my dad has been here for over 70 years working. And New York is just a little bit darker tonight with my dad not here.”