Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Seaport Beer Garden Derailed by Community Board Rules

By Julie Shapiro | April 27, 2011 10:15am
Water Taxi Beach at the South Street Seaport, shown last summer, was supposed to get a makeover and become an upscale German beer garden.
Water Taxi Beach at the South Street Seaport, shown last summer, was supposed to get a makeover and become an upscale German beer garden.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT — The much-anticipated German beer garden at the South Street Seaport may not open this spring after all.

Telly Hatzigeorgiou withdrew his liquor license application for the Pier 17 space, saying Community Board 1 had placed so many restrictions on him that he would not be able to operate the venue profitably.

"I'm not sure what we're doing at this point," Hatzigeorgiou told DNAinfo Wednesday.

The board wanted the outdoor eatery and event space, called Pier Garten, to close by 3 a.m. seven days a week and stop playing music at midnight on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends. Hatzigeorgiou said the restricted hours, especially for music, would make it difficult for him to hold private events like weddings and corporate parties.

Hatzigeorgiou said he plans to talk to his lawyer to decide how to move forward.

John Fratta, chairman of CB1's Seaport/Civic Center Committee, said he hopes Hatzigeorgiou will return to the community board with a proposal that works for everyone.

"We don't want to have nothing there," Fratta said, but he and other residents were concerned that later hours of operation would disturb the community.

For the past two summers, the 18,000-square-foot space on the north side of Pier 17 was home to Water Taxi Beach, which featured plastic palm trees, fried food and truckloads of sand.

After the beach lost so much money that New York Water Taxi founder Tom Fox could no longer afford to keep it open, Fox decided to bring in Hatzigeorgiou, who owns the Slate party space in Flatiron, to come up with a new concept.

The pair envisioned a more grown-up venue with lush landscaping and real pear trees, serving German staples like bratwurst and a wide range of beers. They planned to lose the sand in favor of 50 communal tables, along with outdoor Ping-Pong, pool and foosball.

They had hoped to open Pier Garten at the beginning of May.