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The Water Club (restaurant)

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Coordinates: 40°44′25″N 73°58′21″W / 40.740375°N 73.972375°W / 40.740375; -73.972375
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The Water Club
size
The restaurant's exterior in 2010
Map
Restaurant information
Established1982 (1982)
Closed2024 (2024)
Food typeAmerican (traditional) cuisine and seafood
Street address500 East 30th Street
CityNew York
StateNew York
Postal/ZIP Code10016
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40°44′25″N 73°58′21″W / 40.740375°N 73.972375°W / 40.740375; -73.972375

The Water Club was a restaurant and event venue on two barges moored on the East River at East 30th Street in Kips Bay, in Manhattan, New York City. Located on the stretch of waterfront between the East 34th Street Heliport and Waterside Plaza, the venue served classic American cuisine and seafood; it overlooked Long Island City, Queens and Greenpoint, Brooklyn across the river.[1][2] In the mid-1980s, The Water Club was the tenth largest grossing restaurant in the United States.

History

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Development and opening

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The establishment of the venue—the first waterfront restaurant in Manhattan—traces back to a request for proposals for waterfront development issued by New York City in 1978 for a restaurant and a public promenade on the site, which was previously occupied by two parking lots.[3][4][5] The following year, MDO Development Corporation signed a 25-year lease agreement with the city to construct and operate the restaurant.[6] The venue was developed by Michael D. (Buzzy) O'Keeffe, who owned The River Café in Brooklyn and had prior experience with the challenges associated with opening a waterfront restaurant in New York City.[4][7]

The venue consisted of two barges moored in the East River.

Built at a cost of $5.2 million, the venue consisted of two 110-foot-long (34 m) former lumber barges moored in the East River and was connected by ramps to a structure on land that contained the kitchen, a bar and lounge, and a two-story glass lobby with a staircase leading to an outdoor bar on the rooftop.[5][8] The restaurant included a parking lot with valet parking on the bulkhead to the north of the venue, along a waterfront promenade with landscaping and benches designed by M. Paul Friedberg.[9][10] The promenade was developed as a required public amenity and forms a section of the East River Greenway.[11][12] The south barge (used for private parties) first opened on September 9, 1982, and was followed by the restaurant in the north barge, which opened a few weeks later on September 28th.[8][9]

The following summer, O'Keeffe decided to expand the venue, adding a third 140-foot-long (43 m) barge filled with 200 tons of sand that functioned as an artificial beach for the use of restaurant patrons that had lounge chairs, umbrellas and a bar. Although he had envisioned the beach barge to be open each summer and towed away for winter storage, the beach only lasted for one week because O'Keeffe had failed to apply for a permit to dock the barge, which was ordered to be towed away by the city's Department of Ports and Terminals, which leased the property to the restaurant.[13][14]

Operation

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Just a few months after the restaurant opened, The Water Club made headlines when it refused to serve Mimi Sheraton, the food critic for The New York Times. Sheraton had eaten at the restaurant unnoticed the first time she dined at the venue, but was recognized when she returned for dinner with four guests on December 30, 1982. It was the first time she had been refused service by a restaurant. In a news conference that followed the incident, O'Keeffe explained that he decided exclude the food critic because he thought her reviews were inaccurate and was particularly unhappy about the one-star rating that she gave his River Café in Brooklyn.[15][16] In 1988, O'Keeffe hired Richard Moonen to serve as the restaurant's head chef, where he remained until 1994.[17][18]

The Water Club was located in a prime viewing spot for the Macy's fireworks display usually held over the East River on the Fourth of July;[19] the venue had been used during the event as a command center for the fireworks show,[20] a filming location for its broadcast on television,[19][21] and private receptions for Macy's guests.[21][22][23] The waterfront promenade built as part of the restaurant included 396 feet (121 m) of docking space that was used by private yachts, including vessels owned by Malcolm Forbes and Donald Trump for viewing the Fourth of July fireworks.[24][25][26]

The Water Club, now closed, viewed from the north in September 2024

In 2001, the restaurant's original lease agreement with the city was amended and the term was extended through 2030. The agreement was made through the city's Department of Small Business Services and administered by the Economic Development Corporation.[6] In 2011, the New York City Comptroller issued a report alleging that The Water Club was understating its revenue by failing to record some cash sales; the property was leased from the city and a portion of the rent was determined by the amount of revenue.[6][27] The restaurant had been previously accused of inaccurate record-keeping when its former manager was found guilty of embezzling $485,000 when he worked at The Water Club from 1983 to 1986; at that time it was the tenth largest grossing restaurant in the country.[28]

Like its sister restaurant The River Café, The Water Club was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, forcing its temporary closure for repairs.[29] The venue's event space reopened in May 2013, followed by the rooftop bar over the summer and the restaurant in October 2013.[30]

The restaurant was later converted into a venue for private events.[31] In 2021, O'Keeffe proposed adding a 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) high-end casino next to the venue, which drew opposition from some of the local residents.[32][33][34] Subsequent to what was originally announced as renovations,[35] The Water Club closed permanently in 2024 when the remaining time on the venue's lease was turned back over to the city.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Reichl, Ruth (December 23, 1994). "Restaurant Review: The Water Club". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  2. ^ Solares, Nick (July 15, 2010). "The Art of the Lunch Deal: The Water Club". Serious Eats. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  3. ^ Mindlin, Robert (January 28, 1979). "City hopes to revitalize waterfront". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved October 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Toscano, John (May 4, 1979). "A new kind of sea food on menu for Manhattan". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 11, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b McCallister, Jared (November 19, 1982). "New restaurant in hot water with union". New York Daily News. p. 188. Retrieved April 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c "Audit Report on the Compliance of MDO Development Corporation With Its Lease Agreement". New York City Office of the Comptroller. February 9, 2011. p. 1. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  7. ^ Lewis, John (May 15, 1983). "Riverside reverie made waves". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Restaurants: The Water Club". New York. September 20, 1982. p. 106. Retrieved September 11, 2024 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ a b Greene, Gael (February 28, 1983). "Barge It". New York. p. 72. Retrieved September 11, 2024 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  11. ^ "Comprehensive Manhattan Waterfront Plan" (PDF). Office of the Manhattan Borough President. Spring 1995. p. 74. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "The Water Club Esplanade" (PDF). New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  13. ^ O'Shaughnessy, Patrick (August 18, 1983). "East Side Ipanema". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Moses, Charles T. (August 24, 1983). "Red Tape Beaches Barge". Newsday. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Sheraton, Mimi (January 7, 1983). "Restaurants; A la carte". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  16. ^ Schwartz, Jerry (January 9, 1983). "Restauranter ejects Times' Mimi Sheraton". The Journal News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Miller, Bryan (July 22, 1988). "Diner's Journal". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  18. ^ Fabricant, Florence (August 3, 1994). "Off the Menu: Water Club Chef is leaving". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Stasi, Linda (April 20, 2014). "Fireworks Snow Job". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  20. ^ Hackett, Thomas (July 2, 2000). "N.Y. skyline is tops for OpSailors". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ a b McCann Fenton, Matthew (June 27, 1999). "View Masters". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Macy's to hail man on moon on 4th of July". New York Daily News. June 22, 1989. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Sound Bites". New York Daily News. May 19, 1994. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Smith, Liz (July 8, 1984). "Telling the Russians with firecrackers". The New York Daily News. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Slippery Problem Is Put Out to Sea". New York Daily News. May 25, 1988. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Yachts and Boats". The Water Club. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  27. ^ Barron, James (February 9, 2011). "City audit of the Water Club reveals holes in the books". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  28. ^ Glaberson, William (November 29, 1989). "Water Club's Ex-Manager Guilty of Embezzlement". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  29. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (October 26, 2013). "Getting It Shipshape Again". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  30. ^ Preston, Marguerite (October 17, 2013). "The Dining Room at The Water Club Reopens Tonight". Eater NY. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  31. ^ a b Smith, Kevin (August 27, 2024). "Water Club permanently closed in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood". New York Business Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  32. ^ Campanile, Carl; Kosman, Josh (December 15, 2021). "Water Club owner wants to get rolling on NYC's East River with 'Monte Carlo' casino". New York Post. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  33. ^ Rubinstein, Dana; Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (March 30, 2022). "A Casino Atop Saks? Lobbyists Push for Manhattan Gambling Site". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  34. ^ Kelly, Griffin (March 26, 2022). "Kips Bay residents say Water Club's planned casino is a bad gamble". New York Post. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  35. ^ Cuozzo, Steve (June 18, 2024). "NYC's iconic Water Club on East River remains indefinitely closed for 'renovations,' faces murky future". New York Post. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
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