Highland Falls doesn’t have a new street, but it has a new street sign!

On Saturday, March 1, the intersection of Main St. and Homestead Ave. was renamed by Mayor Joe D’Onofrio – it’s now known as Eamon Fallon Way in celebration of South Gate Tavern owner Eamon Fallon.

The unveiling of the new sign took place not too long after the community’s annual Saint Patrick’s Parade and featured a bagpiper and a pretty good-sized crowd.

“This young man, I know that you all know, came here from Ireland,” D’Onofrio said in opening the ceremony. “Eamon and his family have been a big part of this village’s life for decades. Anything that I ever needed all I had to do was go see Eamon or (his wife) Bobbi. Whenever someone is in need, they are there. They’ve been contributing to this community for decades and I just wanted to give something back.”

While D’Onofrio, Fallon and the crowd watched, Fallon’s oldest grandson, Seamus, climbed a ladder and uncovered the new sign. A smaller – non-official – sign lower on the same pole declares ‘Parking for Irishmen only’.

After the ceremony Fallon said he was “so honored” with the recognition, saying that when he first set out with the ambition to create an Irish pub, he did not know where he would end up.

“But as soon as I came to Highland Falls, I loved the area and I knew this was it,” he said. “All these years later, I am so thankful to call this town my home.”

Fallon is, he believes, the fifth owner of the storefront since it became a bar in 1919. The location was first a general store, in 1895. Fallon has operated South Gate since 1968.

He says he would not have made it as a local businessman without the support of the community.

And as for the street sign? He had no idea that tribute was about to be bestowed on him and says he literally can’t put into words how honored he is.