Storm brews at Rockaway Beach Boardwalk contract hearing
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Rockaway residents have pushed back against the Parks Department’s decision to grant a concessions contract to the company Rockaway Beach Bazaar. Photo via David Shankbone/Flickr
By Rachel Vick
A Parks Department plan to award a new 15-year Rockaway Beach Boardwalk operating contract isn’t exactly smooth sailing.
More than 2,000 people have emailed the city in response to the decision, which will enable Rockaway Beach Bazaar LLC, a firm owned by the founders of the nearby Riis Park Beach Bazaar and the defunct Brooklyn Bazaar, to run the popular boardwalk eateries for the next decade and half.
Tensions boiled over Monday during a public hearing on the contract, which has not yet been certified. Testimony included impassioned pleas to protect local businesses that fear rent hikes and displacement, as well as aggressive interruptions by angry callers.
“We know where you sleep,” one person shouted at the Rockaway Beach Bazaar representatives.
The outburst prompted the moderator to mute everyone attending virtual hearing.
The new LLC outbid Rockaway Beach Club, a coalition of local business owners that has run concessions at Beach 106th, Beach 97th and Beach 86th Street since 2011.
Boardwalk vendors, Rockaway residents and other local business owners said the contract decision was a feeble attempt to recoup funding lost due to pandemic budget cuts and would result in the shutdown of popular shops and eateries like Caracas, Rippers and Low Tide.
“We are aware there is a budget shortfall that this city is in and this feels like an attempt to make up a small portion of that shortfall on the back of working class New Yorkers,” said a Rockaway resident named Marsha. “There is no way given how much concessions raise that they could have any objective besides raising rent and raising prices. Their assurances … are pretty transparent.”
The Parks Department issued a request for proposals for a boardwalk operator in November 2019. Under the terms of the contract, Rockaway Beach Bazaar LLC will pay the city between $300,000 and $453,777 each year for the next 15 years, according to contract details. The amount increases annually.
Rockaway Beach Bazaar’s proposal included installing wifi and expanding concessions into the Arverne sections of the boardwalk. They have since promised to offer contracts to some current vendors.
“We are big fans of what the Rockaway Beach Club has done over the years,” said co-owners Aaron Broudo and Belvy Klein. “We’ve repeatedly said we want to retain as many of the previous vendors as possible. Nobody here is looking to displace anyone.”
But opponents of the plan say they worry Rockaway Beach Bazaar will jack up rents, siphon bar revenue and force businesses to raise prices or close. They also say the existing vendors helped reestablish the boardwalk after Hurricane Sandy and persisted through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In joining forces we had a family and eclectic group “said Maribel Araujo, founder of Caracas Arepa Bar and member of the Rockaway Beach Club . “We were given the mission and the opportunity to activate concessions and transform them into a destination … Keeping with the spirit of Rockaway.”
After two hours of spoken testimony, a representative for City Comptroller Scott Stringer said the office would investigate “disconcerting” claims about the fairness of the process. Stringer has received more than 2,000 emails about the project.
Parks Department spokesperson Charisse Hill said Rockaway Beach Bazaar plans to “keep the party going” at Beach 86th, Beach 97th, and Beach 106th Streets.
Rockaway Beach Bazaar LLC will work with the existing vendors and transform the Beach 97th Street concession area — home to Surf’s Up, High 97 and Super Burrito — into a year-round venue, she said.
