There's a dramatic twist in the endless saga of the Coney Island boardwalk: two longstanding Mom & Pop enterprises are being offered long term leases by the same company that worked so hard to drive them out. Beloved boardwalk dive Ruby's Old Tyme Bar & Grill and classic snack shop Paul's Daughter were supposed to vacate by the end of the month. But at the eleventh hour, foreign amusement company Zamperla is offering them an eight year lease, NY1 reports. But what about the year-round upscale sports bar and cappuccino complex Coney Island so desperately needs?!
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Results tagged “ruby'sbarandgrill”
Reprieve: Ruby's Bar And Paul's Daughter Offered Long Term Leases!
Last Call For Ruby's Bar And Other Longtime Coney Island Establishments
Just a reminder that the foreign company that now operates prime Coney Island real estate for the Bloomberg administration will soon be kicking out the last remaining Mom & Pop businesses on the boardwalk. Most beloved is Ruby's Old Tyme Bar & Grill, which has been in operation at this boardwalk location since the dark days of the early '80s. But the others that are sure to be missed include Paul’s Daughter, Cha Cha’s, Gyro Corner, Steve’s Grill House, and the Suh family’s Coney Island Souvenir Shop. In keeping with a one year lease extension agreed upon last year, they all must vacate by November 4th. Amusing the Zillion reports from the sad scene:
Video: Coney Island Scream Zone Opens As Old Businesses Are Shouted Down
International amusement giant Zamperla may be turning Coney Island into a generic shopping plaza you could find anywhere in Anytown, USA, but that's just fine by our old rich white male officials, who will no doubt feel more comfortable posing for photo ops at a shiny new sports bar than a place like Ruby's Bar and Grill. So it goes. Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and others journeyed to Coney Island today for the opening of The Scream Zone, which is adjacent to Luna Park and is accessed where Shoot the Freak used to be. You'll recall that Zamperla was fined by the Buildings Department for razing the popular attraction without a permit.
Coney Island 8 May Take Dead End Deal for One Last Summer
The eight businesses on the Coney Island boardwalk that have been fighting eviction may accept a deal that would allow them to stay for one last summer, but guarantee their eviction at the end of the season. The foreign-run amusement giant Zamerpla, which controls the lease to the NYC-owned property, has for months been locked in a legal battle with Ruby's Bar & Grill, Beer Island, Paul's Daughter, the Grill House, Cha Cha's, Gyro Corner, Shoot the Freak and Coney Island Souvenirs. But now Amusing the Zillion reports that the owners are being offered leases for the 2011 season, on the condition that they go quietly in November.
Councilman Supports Eviction of Coney Island Eight
Eight mom-and-pop businesses were expected to appear in housing court today to fight their eviction from the Coney Island Boardwalk, but we're told the court date was postponed for a second time, to February 16th. In the meantime, the "Coney Island Eight" have already lost the crucial support of Democratic Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr., who serves as chairman of the council’s powerful Finance Committee. Recchia tells the Post, "I understand the sentiment that these businesses have been here a long time, but they also made a lot of money paying cheap rent all these years. If they really cared, I know firsthand that they had plenty of chances to buy these properties and fix them up, but they never did."
Video: New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim and Ruby's Protest
For 108 years, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club has been plunging into the freezing water for "stamina, virility and immunity." The club convenes weekly, but their annual New Year's Day swim gets all the attention, and with the unseasonably warm weather on January 1st this year, the beach was packed with jubilant bathers. But it wasn't all high fives and Borat thongs (see photo five... or don't), this year Ruby's Old Tyme Bar and Grill—a Boardwalk institution—opened on New Year's Day for what may be the last time. In this excellent video, Gregory Stefano documented the contrast between the gaiety on the beach and the somber outrage inside Ruby's:
Photos: Coney Island New Year's Day Polar Bear Club Swim 2011
Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, there was a massive turnout for today's annual New Year's Day Coney Island Polar Bear Club swim. With temperatures in the lower fifties, there was nothing holding back the masses from stripping down to their trunks and bikinis and BP bio-hazard suits and running into the Atlantic Ocean—which wasn't exactly bathwater, but compared to the frigid weather and blizzard conditions we've recently experienced, today's temps made for a nearly perfect day at the beach. As such, the bragging rights that came with this year's swim aren't very exclusive, but the atmosphere was jubilant, and a lot of money was raised for Camp Sunshine.
Video: Yesterday's Psychotic Polar Bear Swim at Coney Island
Ruby's Bar and Grill and seven other Coney Island businesses are fighting their evictions in court, but the Post reports that their lawyers are also quietly working to arrange a settlement whereby their clients would slag off in exchange for some hush money. "The tenants are holding the boardwalk hostage in order to get a big payout and then walk away," one city official tells the tabloid. Exactly—it's just like how in Die Hard, the sinister Bruce Willis held all those people hostage at Nakatomi Plaza, thus preventing the noble Alan Rickman from saving them.
Coney Island's Shoot the Freak Bulldozed, Boarded Up
Although the owners of eight local businesses are suing to stop their eviction from the Coney Island boardwalk, the amusement giant controlling their leases isn't waiting to give them the boot. The first to get the bum's rush is Shoot the Freak, an open-air attraction that's let customers fire paint ball pellets at the titular "freak" for the past ten years. Anthony Berlingieri, who operates the famous game, tells the Post, "I’m still in shock. Zamperla never contacted me before throwing out my equipment and basically shutting me out of business."
Ruby's Opening for New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim, Protest
If you were thinking this morning about how great it would be to spend a winter's day at the beach, here's good news. Ruby's Bar & Grill—the imperiled Coney Island institution—will open up for the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Swim. Despite receiving an eviction notice from the sinister corporate amusement giant Zamperla, the essential boardwalk dive isn't budging, and plans to open for "a HUGE protest" on New Year's day. A host at Ruby's (Facebook) tells us the doors will pop at 10:30 a.m. for the annual "Polar Bear Plunge for Camp Sunshine." Meanwhile, questions are being raised about the food service company that Zamperla wants to install on the Boardwalk to replace eight businesses, including Ruby's.
Ruby's, Other Coney Businesses May Relocate Off Boardwalk
A compromise is being floated that would relocate quintessential Coney Island dive Ruby's Bar and Grill away from the boardwalk to Surf Avenue. Ruby's and seven other boardwalk establishments are being evicted by amusement giant Zamerpla USA, which is leasing the property from the city and operating Luna Park (on the site formerly occupied by Astroland). A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg has told the Post that the city is considering an idea put forth by Coney Island activist Dick Zigun that would evict the long-standing furniture sellers on Surf Avenue to make way for some of the evicted businesses.
Ruby's Opening One Last Time for Beautiful Saturday
Last Saturday at Ruby's Bar and Grill, there was a boozy protest against amusement giant Zamperla USA's move to evict eight longstanding businesses around the Coney Island boardwalk. It was supposed to be the last hurrah for the beloved dive, but this Saturday there will be another last hurrah. Ruby's Facebook page says: "Due to overwhelming requests, from our loving and loyal customers, Ruby's plans on opening up for the last time." And if Ruby's lawyer is right, this might not be the last time either. "We're about to fight the biggest battle ever," attorney Marc Aronson tells the Daily News.
Ruby's, Others Definitely Suing to Stop Boardwalk Eviction
As expected, eight of the nine family-owned Coney Island bars, eateries, and attractions which are facing sudden eviction will be fighting their fate in court. (The only one not joining the lawsuit is Pio Pio Riko Peruvian food stand, which opened last year.) Anthony Berlingieri, owner of Shoot the Freak and Beer Island, tells The Post he and the other businesses have hired a lawyer and will sue Zamperla, the company leasing the property from the city. He says the businesses spent thousands of dollars each coming up with business plans at Zamperla’s request to justify lease renewals "even though Zamperla already decided to kick them out."
Mourning Coney Island Institution, Ruby's Bar, 1934-2010
Yesterday, hundreds of customers and staff protested and grieved over the impending demise of Coney Island mainstay, Ruby's Bar & Grill. The family of Rubin Jacobs, who bought the boardwalk location near Stillwell Avenue in 1975, pumped $40,000 into the business last year in hopes of convincing amusement giant Zamperla to let it stay. But it didn't matter: Last week, Zamperla presented Ruby's (as well as eight other longtime boardwalk residents, including Shoot the Freak, Cha Cha's, and Paul's Daughter) with a letter telling them that they'd been evicted and had until November 15th to "surrender the premises."
Ruby's Owner Not Too Optimistic, Sitting Shiva
Grub Street has a great Q&A with Michael Sarrel, owner of Ruby's Bar and Grill, the beloved old dive that's being forced out of the Coney Island boardwalk after 76 years in operation. Sarrel says, "We are 75 percent resolved that it’s over; however, we’re 25 percent resolved that it’s not."
Ruby's To Reopen Saturday for Rally and Protest
Over the weekend, Ruby's Bar and Grill closed for the season. But on Monday, the owners learned that after more than 70 years on the Coney Island boardwalk, their lease would not be renewed, along with eight other businesses that don't conform to Zamperla/CAI's vague vision of a generic, year-round restaurant sports bar megacomplex. Because who can resist Coney Island in February?! There's been a bitter outcry over the evictions, and on Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m. Ruby's will reopen for one day for a protest to "tell Zamperla, Markowitz, Recchia, Bloomberg and CIDC we won't go quietly." Meanwhile, the blog Amusing the Zillion thinks it's found hope.
Six Saddest Reactions to the Coney Island Evictions
Yesterday we reported that many of the longtime establishments on the Coney Island boardwalk are being abruptly evicted to make way for "a sit-down restaurant with an ocean view, open 365 days a year, able to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also a very large sports bar." The casualties include the 70-year-old dive bar par excellence Ruby's Bar and Grill, The Grill House, Shoot the Freak, Beer Island, and longstanding fast food fast-food stand Paul’s Daughter. Ah, but ain't that Generica! Today the dailies report on the proprietors' reactions to the bad news; here are the six most heartbreaking quotes:
Ruby's Bar, Others Pushed Out of Coney Island Boardwalk
Beloved Coney Island dive Ruby's Bar and Grill is being ousted from the boardwalk. According to a tipster associated with Ruby's, Zamperla, the Italian company that turned Astroland into Luna Park, has told Ruby's that the lease will not be renewed, as feared. The quintessential Coney Island watering hole now has two weeks to vacate the premises, as does The Grill House, Tom's Souvenir shop, and Paul's Daughter. (Nathan's and Lola Star will reportedly be allowed to stay.) So what's in store for the boardwalk? Check out these underwhelming vague new renderings!
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