Liquor May Return To La Marina, Concerts Wont: Court Docs

INWOOD, NY — When a new ownership group reopens Inwood's La Marina, the new eatery will be much more focused on dinner service than the raucous parties the business was once known for, according to court documents that detail an agreement made between the operators and the city Parks Department.

State bankruptcy judges approved an agreement Monday to transfer the La Marina restaurant to Jimmy Goldman, founder of the Brother Jimmy's restaurant chain, through an operating company called 348 Hudson River Partners LLC. All former operators of the site, the Manhattan River Group, and the group's investors are barred from being involved in the new restaurant, according to court documents.

"We are pleased the matter has been resolved, and look forward to the future operation of the concession, and the marina," Parks Department spokeswoman Crystal Howard said in a statement.

The marina is city-owned concession, which means that private business owners pay to operate on the public parkland located where Inwood Hill Park meets Fort Tryon Park along the Hudson River. Goldman agreed to a number of rules put in place by the Parks Department to address complaints that some Inwood residents had about La Marina.

Some of these new rules include:

• The separation of the restaurant from the marina, which will be operated as a separate concession going forward. The concessions will continue to share a Dyckman Street entrance;
• The restaurant will not use amplified sound outdoors after 10 p.m.;
• The restaurant's season will run from May 15 to Sept. 30 with closing hours of 11 p.m. on weekdays and Sundays and 12:30 a.m. on weekends;
• The restaurant will not allow outside promoters to hold events at the venue;
• No valet parking will be offered on the marina premises.

When Goldman's new restaurant at the La Marina opens it will not be allowed to serve alcohol due to an outstanding liquor license suspension issued by the state in 2018, but the Parks Department will not oppose the restaurant in seeking a new license. Menus at Goldman's other restaurants feature a number of specialty drinks and cocktails.

Despite the possibility of alcohol sales returning to the site, the agreement between Goldman and the city requires the new operator to limit special events at the marina to "food-based community events."

Goldman has permission from the city to host ticketed events inside the restaurant only during in-season special occasions such as Memorial Day, July 4 and the Dominican Day Parade, according to court documents. The Parks Department will regulate ticket sales for these events. The new restaurant will also be able to host special events during the off season with written permission from the Parks Department on a case-by-case basis. During these events, valet parking can be offered but only at a parking garage off site.

The strict set of rules for the new operators at La Marina are designed to cut down on the rowdy beach parties that drew celebrities such as Jay Z to the waterfront hotspot. Noise from these events often emanated throughout the Inwood neighborhood and valets would park guests luxury cars in public parking spaces, many neighbors complained.

La Marina was shut down in December following the arrest of a bar manager for narcotics trafficking and numerous violations of state liquor laws, state officials said. Christian Mendez, 33, was arrested outside the Dyckman Street business in November and charged with seven counts of the criminal sale of a controlled substance. Mendez is accused of using La Marina as a drug den and sold large quantities of cocaine, oxycodone and marijuana to undercover officers at the business.

La Marina opened in 2012 after its owners struck a deal in 2009 with the city to open the business on land owned by the city Parks Department. Business owners pay the city to operate on what was once public parkland located where Inwood Hill Park meets Fort Tryon Park along the Hudson River.