The Rye Town Park Commission is currently soliciting short-term, stopgap offers from vendors to operate the park’s vacant restaurant, and snack and concession stands in wake of Seaside Johnnies’ exit, but members will not reveal any potential candidates until the submission deadline, according to the commission president.
According to Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, a Democrat and the president of the park commission, while the commission has received an undisclosed amount of verbal inquiries and several restaurateurs have viewed the park premises, the commission has decided to keep negotiations confidential until Jan. 12, the deadline to submit a letter of interest.
While the commission has endured pressure to make a deal once the former operators of the park’s restaurant, Seaside Johnnies, walked away, Zuckerman said the commission is no longer as worried about its current restaurant vacancy, following a positive financial year in 2016.
He said the park commission pulled in a $265,000 surplus in revenue last year, which would cover any operating deficit for the upcoming season, if necessary.
“The past year was a good year, and we’re still looking to be as successful this year,” Zuckerman told the Review. “Until we get a concrete proposal or consideration, it’s too premature to reveal anything.”
The commission is seeking a one-year deal with vendors interested in taking over the facilities formerly occupied by John Ambrose and Sam Chernin’s Seaside Johnnies, who vacated the property at the end of last year after failing to reach an agreement for a short-term license extension.
On Dec. 21, 2016, the commission began soliciting proposals to operate either one, some or all of the food facilities at the park. Rye Town Park, which overlooks Oakland Beach and the Long Island Sound, includes a beach side restaurant, a beach shop and snack bar, pavilions, and a bath house. Additionally, there is a second snack bar located at the north entrance of the park.
“We’re not specifically anticipating anything,” Zuckerman said. “There may be proposals to take over just the restaurant and others for just the concessions stands.”
According to Rye City Councilwoman Julie Killian, a Republican and member of the commission, the commission is also honing in on selecting a restaurant consultant to draft a new request for proposals, RFP, to solicit restaurateurs for a long-term deal for the period beginning in 2018.
Last June, the park commission sent out an RFP and received two proposals, one from Ambrose and another from Angelo Liberatore, an operating partner of the Fort Pond Bay Company, which operates restaurants Half Moon and Harvest on Hudson in Westchester County. But in August, after Liberatore subsequently withdrew his proposal due to short notice in preparation for 2017, the commission decided to reject Ambrose’s 10-year proposal, which led to a communitywide consensus to start the RFP process over with a professional restaurant consultant.
According to Killian, a committee consisting of herself and Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla, a Democrat and a member of the commission, and two residents—one from the town of Rye, Dan Tartaglia, and the other from the city of Rye, Russ Gold—will select the restaurant consultant.
The committee met on Jan. 4 to discuss the selection of the consultant. As of press time, there is no clear candidate for the position.
