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Sandy's Bar: Watering Hole Floated Into Gerritsen Beach!
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 6, 2012
Modified Nov 6, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 6, 2012
Modified Nov 6, 2012
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Hurricane Sandy moved a lot of things around last week—including tankers!—but our favorite thing just might be the intact bar the storm brought to the middle of Madoc Street in the hard-hit neighborhood of Gerritsen Beach. Sadly, after "Sandy's Bar" was used by workers cleaning up the area, the police ripped the whole thing apart—without contacting its actual owners. Though to be fair it isn't like the NYPD has a special Missing Bars division.
The floating bar was originally part of the Gateway Marina but in the storm it came off its moorings, drifted in Deep Creek Bay past the Belt Parkway and then west to the dead-end block at Madoc Avenue and Keen Court in Gerritsen Beach. "It was moving 30 mph toward my house!" a neighbor recalled to the Post. Neighbors quickly dubbed it "Sandy's Bar" and drank through its booze (there wasn't much and it quickly went BYOB), then hooked up generators to keep the party going.
The party came to an end on Friday when cops and sanitation workers took the structure down. And that is what has Debbie and Louis Kallif, the bar's rightful owners, miffed. "I don’t mind people partying on it- we’ve had plenty of parties there through the years." Louis told the Mail. What he did mind was that the police never contacted him before destroying the 30-year-old structure, which had his name and address posted on the liquor license inside.
Still, all things considered, the Kallif's will endure. "I haven’t called the police or anyone, first because I don’t have service down by the marina still but also because I have no idea who to call," Debbie Kallif told reporters. Her husband later added: "I have no idea what we’re going to do about the bar. I liked it. Maybe one day I’ll build another one but I’m not even thinking about it right now."
Tagged
frankenstorm
gateway marina
gerritsen beach
hurricane sandy
sandys bar
Garth Johnston
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