Businesses Re-Open, Others Still Closed Since Sandy

• Update: New information reports that Eileen Fisher LAB will open in February 2013 rather than January.

Even a hurricane couldn’t hold them down. Rivertowns businesses are again opening their doors after being closed since Superstorm Sandy caused flooding and other damage when it hit the villages on Oct. 29.

MP Taverna, 1 Bridge St. in Irvington, is holding its grand re-opening Monday, offering customers a free glass of sparking wine from Dec. 10-14, when they bring in a flier for the celebratory promotion (click on the PDF for the flier). 

“I have never seen anything like it [the storm damage to the restaurant],” said Michael Psilakis, the executive chef and owner of MP Taverna. “We are currently picking up the pieces and thankfully are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.” 

The interior of the modern Greek tavern-style restaurant had to be rebuilt because the storm blew through the front door flooding the restaurant and several other storefronts on Bridge Street with four feet of water. MP Taverna’s kitchen was found” floating” after the storm

“Kitchen equipment floated on water and was tossed like a ball twenty feet away,” said Psilakis, a renowned chef who owns several restaurants.

MP Taverna’s Irvington location now has all new appliances, equipment, tables, chairs, cushions glassware and china. Chutney Masala Indian Bistro, at 4 W. Main St in Irvington, expects to re-open by the end of the week. The first floor of the two-story building at 4 W. Main St. required new wood and tile floors after Sandy flooded the first floor of the 150-year-old structure. The restaurant plans to introduce a new seasonal menu when it opens.

Contractors have been diligently working on repairing Red Hat on the River, 1 Bridge St., which plans to open again in mid-December after the entire kitchen was destroyed. Red Hat will also re-open with new menu items.

Comfort Restaurant, at 583 Warburton Ave. in Hastings-on-Hudson, is still closed and working out plans for the future of the organic vegan restaurant. Hudson Valley Health & Tennis Club, at 100 River St. in Hastings-on-Hudson, sustained substantial damage and still remains closed, according to posts on its Facebook page. Attempts to reach the club were unsuccessful.

“If only I could hit a reset button to bring Hudson Valley Health & Tennis Club back to pre-Hurricane Sandy,” said Kay Hanna Johnson, on Facebook in a Dec. 4 post. “The damage is extensive but fixable, albeit at a pace slower than I would have hoped.”

According to the Facebook post, work is currently going on to: replace a Con Edison pole that was submerged; re-wire the tennis bubbles and first floor; install new drywall, boiler room equipment, steel tennis bubble door; and remove debris.

The club's deck overlooking the Hudson River was completely destroyed and won’t likely be replaced until the spring, however the club hopes to open back up for tennis in January. Hudson Valley Health & Tennis Club is offering refunds for members, for details see their Facebook page.

Like the tennis club, Eileen Fisher Lab on the Irvington waterfront also won’t open until 2013. Eileen Fisher Inc. projects an opening date of Februrary 2013 for their Irvington location and are encouraging their customers to visit their White Plains and Yonkers locations in the meantime.

The New York Times described the storm as “the biggest blow to [Eileen Fisher’s] operations ever.”

Fisher, an Irvington resident, had to reconfigure office space at 2 Bridge St. since the storm flooded the office space and store at 1 Bridge St. when stormwater overwhelmed the Metro-North train tracks causing the glass door to break, leaving the company to fill more than a dozen dumpsters with damaged inventory. The store's walls and floors also need repair.

However, Eileen Fisher Inc.’s first priority after the storm was to make was to make sure all of their employees were safe especially those who live in the Sound Shore area and the Rockaways. The company paid all employees what they would have made for the week even though some stores and office where closed, and offered interest-free loans or profit sharing advances to employees in need.

In the meantime, some of the Irvington store’s employees were moved to the New York City office or have been working from home—while events held in the Irvington store, like ballroom dancing have been moved to other locations in Irvington. The New York Times reports that the Eileen Fisher’s storm clean-up cost to be more than $1.5 million.

“We probably lost some sales there, but we did see an uptick in our Eileen Fisher.com business during this period,” said Kerri Devaney, a spokesperson for Eileen Fisher Inc.  “What really matters is we’re just pulling together to move forward as a company. It has been difficult, but it isn’t anything we can’t come back from.”

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