1959: Paul's wife and daughter visit him on the Bowery. Photo © Tina Georgoulakos via Paul's Daughter Facebook
Over the past two months, the owners of Ruby’s and Shoot the Freak have emerged as the spokesmen for the Coney Island 8, the eight Boardwalk businesses locked in a eviction battle with Zamperla’s Central Amusement International. But we’ve heard very little from the others. ATZ got in touch with Tina Georgoulakos, owner of Paul’s Daughter, which was founded as Gregory & Paul’s in 1962, for her view on the Boardwalk Brawl.
“I wanted so much to be a part of the New Coney Island but they didn’t even offer me a tiny little spot on the Boardwalk,” says Tina. “They didn’t even respond to me about my proposal, they didn’t even write my name on the eviction notice. And then to find out I’m being replaced by Sodexo, a company who paid out $100 million to settle lawsuits because of racism against their employees and fraud against New York schools. I feel like I’m in a bad B movie.”
Day after the eviction: Tina and Paul Georgoulakos. Photo © Tina Georgoulakos via Paul's Daughter Facebook
Zamperla’s plan for Paul’s Daughter’s Boardwalk location at the southeast corner of Luna Park is a restaurant run by food management giant Sodexo. The French multinational is the world’s 22nd largest corporation. Since the park opened in May, the company has been Zamperla’s partner for “On Site Service Solutions,” setting up and managing food and beverage kiosks in the park.
In early December the Boardwalk businesses were asked to give access to architects from a firm that was hired by the EDC this summer to do existing condition reports on each of the Boardwalk properties. They were requested to provide access for them since the city needed these reports for insurance purposes.
“The architects did complete floor plans and elevations, they then turned those drawings over to Sodexo,” says Tina. “One of the architects asked Sodexo rep Sandy Boyd if Sodexo was going to be a year-round restaurant and she replied ‘oh no, it will be seasonal, there aren’t enough people here off season.’ Of course being open all year is what CAI has been pitching to the public so it’s just another lie.”
Burger Girl at Paul's Daughter. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
After the shock of finding out that her location at the Boardwalk entrance to the park would become a Sodexo-run restaurant, Tina was disapppointed that the City and Zamperla didn’t at least offer her another space, even a smaller one, on the Boardwalk. If another location had been offered she would have a smaller menu and take the Burger people from the roof and put them together, along with the iconic signage, she says.
The lack of support from City officials and some comments in the media have also been hurtful. In Monday’s NY Post, Councilman Domenic Recchia said, ‘I understand the sentiment that these businesses have been here a long time, but they also made a lot of money paying cheap rent all these years. If they really cared, I know firsthand that they had plenty of chances to buy these properties and fix them up, but they never did.”
1962: Paul partners with Gregory Bitetzakis and takes over the old Howard Johnson’s on W. 8 St. and the Boardwalk. They call it Gregory & Paul’s Bar and Grill. 1968: Rockefeller buys the property their store is on and donates it to the Aquarium, putting them (and seven other stores) out of business. Photo © Tina Georgoulakos via Paul’s Daughter Facebook
“I wish Recchia had called me. I imagine he’s going to be very angry when he finds out he was misinformed,” says Tina. “It hurts me to hear such untruths about my store Paul’s Daughter. There aren’t any violations against it. I’ve been handcuffed by one year leases for years and years. And I would have given anything to have been given the opportunity to purchase the property but it was never offered and by the way it sold for 32 30 million dollars to Sitt. I pay $100,000 for seven months. I guess some people don’t think that’s a lot. I proposed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to modernize my iconic store.”
Paul’s Daughter is located on the former Astroland property and was able to remain there after Sitt bought the land. In 2009, the city purchased the property along with two additional lots on Stillwell for $95 million and leased them to Zamperla, which pays $100,000 annual rent plus a small percentage of the gross receipts to the City. According to CAI’s contract with the City, Luna Park also received a subsidy of $5.7 million from the City for “among other things, facilitating the purchase of certain equipment necessary for the Tenant to operate the Premises as a first class amusement park.”
Easter Brunch at Paul's Daughter on the Boardwalk. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
“I would have been elated to share in Valerio’s vision for Coney Island only he kept it a secret,” said Tina. “If they were even entertaining the idea of me staying wouldn’t they have shared their vision with me?” On the day of eviction, Valerio Ferrari, Zamperla USA CEO, told ATZ: “They didn’t have the vision that we have for the Boardwalk. It’s a business decision.” He said Zamperla/CAI’s vision is to revitalize the Boardwalk by making it a lively place open 365 days a year. But it’s also a matter of investment dollars.
Says Tina: “It breaks my heart to know that not only is my city, my beloved New York, not helping me, they are trying to tell lies about my business to make me look bad. I haven’t a clue as to why. Ask anyone in Coney Island about my dad aka ‘The Chief.’ I don’t know a soul who doesn’t adore him. Forty-one crazy, wonderful years on the Boardwalk. I love NY….. I love Brooklyn and I love the view from my store even more. I wish someone could help me stay.”
Last Day of Season at Paul's Daughter, Oct 31, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
Related posts on ATZ…
November 13, 2011: The End of Paul’s Daughter As We Know It–Will They Return?
October 8, 2011: Photo of the Day: “The Chief” of the Coney Island Boardwalk
November 21, 2010: Goodbye (Or Maybe Not?) to My Coney Island Equivalent of Proust’s Madeleine
November 10, 2010: This Week in Coney Island: Party at Paul’s Daughter, Hypocrisy at NYCEDC
Amusing the Zillion 
Great piece…great photos! Of all the companies to choose why Sodexo? Where have they shown any flair for the amusement biz? They’re an institutional foodservice company with a focus on mundane venues. If Zamprela was hell bent on bringing in an outside company they have plenty of ride customers/park operators who at least understand the amusment biz and might have wanted to partner with them. Sodexo’s bland and uninviting BBQ trailer – and I use the term loosely – sitting in the middle of Luna Park just shows they’re lack of know how and knowledge. Tricia, you’ve seen my operation in Cheyenne – you think we could do a better job?
Yes, loved your operation–front of show (signage) looks great, and what’s more the food is authentic too. I took some photos at Cheyenne Frontier Days, including some good ones of your booth, but this was before I went digital. Must be slides! I will have to dig them up and scan them to my flickr.
“I wish someone could help me stay.”
That says it all. Great photos in this post.
More wonderful photos of Pauls’s Daughter, and of course the former Gregory & Pauls, including many pix of the Astroland Rocket on its roof, on their Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pauls-Daughter/137891982929286?v=photos
Happy New Year, Marty and congrats on making it to the 365th bar in your Guy Walks into 365 Bars!
Paul’s Daughter/Gregory and Paul’s is my favorite place on the boardwalk. It’s such a shame to hear how they are being treated after being such a beautiful part of Coney Island and the Boardwalk for so many years. They gave the boardwalk personality, charm, and a heart… something that Sodexo will never be able to provide.
Great work on this piece, Trish.
Hail to the Chief! (and his daughter)
Tina deserves better. Melanie, Cindy and Michael deserve better. Coney Island deserves better. Zamperla’s “vision of Coney Island” will wipe out more of the few remaining icons that ARE Coney Island!
It’s heartbreaking. Thank you for always keeping CI in the spotlight. Tina’s words put a lump in my throat.
Coney will never be the same with the loss of Paul’s daughter, Cha-Chas and the rest of the original Coney fixtures of so many years. Of course Rubys will leave a big hole in the boardwalk when they close. Thank the avarice and hypocrisy of special interest groups for another piece of the city lost. Everything that Coney was seems to be lost in a haze of sterilized nothingness. I wonder how long it will take for the powers that be to start charging the Polar Bears to jump into the frigid water? The Jump was supposed to have a whole LED system make-over…What ever happened to that?? It took the city almost seven years to start to repair the boardwalk. I would sit in Rubys and call out to people to watch out for the missing boards. All the opportunists/developers/politicos have screwed the people of the city by changing the things,to their own design and profit that make this city what it is into a Nanny State stuffing money into her purse. WTF!!!