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East Hampton Town took one Montauk restaurant to court last week for violating its occupancy limits and is preparing to do the same with another this week.
On Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board authorized Town Attorney Michael Sendlenski’s office to pursue a temporary restraining order against Ruschmeyer’s, on Second House Road, which the town attorney said on Monday has been cited on multiple occasions this summer for overcrowding.
A State Supreme Court justice issued just such a restraining order on Friday, at the request of the town, demanding that those in charge of the Grey Lady in Montauk’s harbor area adhere to the building’s official occupancy limits or face contempt of court charges.
Justice Elizabeth Emerson granted a restraining order requested by the town on Friday afternoon barring the small harborfront restaurant from hosting more than the 68 people it is certified for, according to town officials, and from transforming the restaurant into a nightclub after dinner service hours.
“They’re limited to having 68 people, and they can’t operate as a nightclub … which means they can’t move all the tables and chairs out and pack the room full of people late at night,” Mr. Sendlenski said on Monday. “Going to the [State] Supreme Court is always our last resort, but they were written [citations] for two weekends in a row. Now, if they don’t comply, they can be held in contempt.”
Fire marshals had said last week that the total occupancy limit for the restaurant is 99 and have cited the operators for having up to 190 people in the space.
Mr. Sendlenski said that town authorities were on hand to monitor the crowding situation at the popular nightspot for compliance this past weekend but would not comment on whether the business met the court’s demands. He said only that the situation is still under investigation by town fire marshals.
Last month, town fire marshals twice halted the late-night revelry, took head counts, and cited the owners for overcrowding and changing the use of the legally approved restaurant to a nightclub by removing tables and chairs from the dining room.
This is the second time the town has sought court orders to back up local authorities’ attempts to rein in the party scene at the property at 440 West Lake Drive. In 2015, another state judge issued almost identical constraints on the owners of the restaurant that then occupied the building, Harbor Raw Bar and Lounge.
The owners of The Harbor at the time were Robert Hirsh and James Willis. The property itself was purchased in 2015 by a limited liability company called Spiritoso. Spiritoso LLC is still listed as the owner of the property and was cited in the court papers filed by the town on Friday, along with Grey Lady East LLC, the operators of Grey Lady Montauk, and of its eponymous sister restaurant in Manhattan. Ryan Chadwick and Callum McLaughlin are named on the property’s liquor license.
on Aug 8, 2017