Boardy Barn's New Owners Keeping Mum About Their Plans For Storied Party Spot

Erstwhile orange juice spokesperson Anita Bryant might liken a Memorial Day weekend without crowds partying at the storied Boardy Barn in Hampton Bays to “a day without sunshine.”

And that’s what it will be this weekend, though more like a Sunday without plastic cups full of suds, as the new owners continue to consider their options for the development or reopening of the legendary summer destination.

One of the owners, Bryan Danzi, said he’s part of a group of so far unnamed local people who purchased the Montauk Highway property.

“All the owners are local, we’re all local people, and when the opportunity came up, we believe in Hampton Bays and its potential, and so we decided to make the investment,” Danzi said Tuesday.

He declined to identify the other members of the group or say if he was actually from Hampton Bays, saying just, “We know the area really well.”

Danzi also declined to reveal how much the group paid for the property and said he and his partners are “still not exactly sure” how they want to use it.

An application for a liquor license filed with the State Liquor Authority may offer a shot of insight. Southampton Town officials received the required heads-up about the property owners’ request for a liquor license and released the notice pursuant to a Freedom of Information Law query.

The file formed with the town described the planned operation as a “beer garden.” It cites plans for a bar/tavern offering a limited menu. The box for music is checked, with acoustic and live bands listed; the box for dancing is not checked. It looks for permits for a licensed outdoor deck or patio.

The application notice lists the applicant as “Bays Beer Garden LLC,” with Danzi’s email provided for contact purposes.

The box asking if the applicant is also the owner is checked “no.” The owner is listed as Voxi Realty LLC, but the phone number given for the owner is answered by Long Island Hotels LLC, a hospitality group based in Islandia and owned by John A. Danzi and John Tsunis.

The LLC Bays Beer Garden was formed this past March. Long Island Hotels LLC was formed in 1998. Voxi Realty LLC lists the same address as the Boardy Barn as its mailing location; its filing doesn’t immediately appear on the Department of State Division of Corporations database.

Tracing the ownership gets more circuitous using town and county records. The county lists the owner of the property as an LLC called Deja Vu All Over Again. There are a number of limited liability companies going by that name across the country. The one based in New York formed last August and lists an Albany contact address that traces to a firm serving as contact for 10 other LLCs.

Town property records list the LLC as the owner of 270 West Montauk Highway since July 2021. While the town records often show the sale history of the property, it doesn’t depict when the LLC bought the parcel or when it might have transferred from the previous owners. The town’s records do show a 2021 assessment for $1.940 million and a tax bill in excess of $30,000 last year.

Located on 2.6 acres, the building measures some 12,194 square feet. It was built in 1984.

The sale of the Boardy Barn, effective May 5, was made public on the bar’s Facebook page and its website, in a message which read, in part, “Mickey Shields and Tony Galgano first opened the barn doors on April 16, 1970. We are deeply grateful for the memories we hold in our hearts.”

News that the legendary locale was up for sale spread last fall. The Boardy Barn had been closed in 2020 due to the pandemic, and then suffered another blow when Tony Galgano, who owned the popular watering hole with partner Mickey Shields for a half century, became ill. He died at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care on Quiogue last November.

The Boardy Barn was open last summer and in a Facebook post in September teased a 2022 reopening, thanking customers for a great closing to the 2021 season and asking, “Who’s ready for 2022?”

The new owners aren’t. Not yet, anyway, according to Danzi. The ownership group is still figuring out how they will use the property.

“We’re excited, as we figure out what we want to do,” Danzi said. “We believe in the potential of the area. We understand the Boardy Barn was iconic — it was something that everybody knew about, a lot of people loved it. The owners and the family were really great to work with, and we’re excited about the opportunity.”

He said as soon as members of the ownership group know what they plan to do, they’ll let everybody know.