Paul’s Daughter Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

December 9, 2011 by Tricia

1959: Paul's wife and daughter visit him on the Bowery. Photo © Tina Georgoulakos via Paul's Daughter Facebook

We’re thrilled to report that this afternoon, Tina Georgoulakos of Paul’s Daughter, formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s, signed an 8-year lease for her family’s restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk. “I’m happy because the Burger statues wanted to stay where they belonged,” she told ATZ wryly. “Now they will get a new sign.”

In October, Papa Burger, a fiberglass figure on the restaurant’s roof, sported a sign that said “Looking for a New Beach.” The 49-year old Mom-and-Pop had been evicted along with seven others by Zamperla, which runs Luna Park. In a surprising about-face, the amusement operator invited two of the businesses–Paul’s Daughter and Ruby’s Bar–to stay and negotiations have been going on for weeks.

Both Papa and Mama Burger and a mix of new and old hand-painted signage as well as a neon sign are expected to be part of the new Paul’s Daughter when it reopens in April 2012. Tina’s father, 82-year-old Paul “The Chief” Georgoulakos, the oldest operator on the Coney Island Boardwalk, will be back too. It appears that our habit of taking photos of “The Last French Fry” as a good luck charm worked two years in a row!

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we noted in the comments, Ruby’s Bar signed an 8-year lease, as did another Boardwalk veteran, the Lola Star Boutique. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Brooklyn Beach Shop, Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter, as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.

Related posts on ATZ...

November 15, 2011: Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk

November 13, 2011: The End of Paul’s Daughter As We Know It–Will They Return?

October 13, 2011: Photo of the Day: Coney Island Americana Looking for New Beach

December 16, 2010: Blast from the Past: LFO’s Summer Girls Music Video

Posted in Food, Real Estate, Redevelopment | Tagged Boardwalk, Central Amusement International, Coney Island, Gregory & Paul's, Paul's Daughter, restaurant, Tina Georgoulakos | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on December 9, 2011 at 6:33 pm | Reply Concerned Coney Island resident

great news :)
on December 9, 2011 at 6:46 pm | Reply Out Walking the Dog

Hurrah! Such good news. Hungry for fries …
on December 9, 2011 at 8:00 pm | Reply Amy Nicholson

Love the photographing of the last french fry! That’s brilliant.
on December 9, 2011 at 8:10 pm | Reply Bogframe

I couldn’t be happier! That’s a lie. I’m happy, but I’ll be happier when I hear that Ruby’s gets an 8 year lease too. Way to go, CAI/Zamperla. Thanks for doing the right thing!
- on December 10, 2011 at 7:58 am | Reply Tricia
  
  Yes, Ruby’s also signed a lease! I wasn’t able to reach Michael yesterday for a comment, so I didn’t want to write anything yet
on December 9, 2011 at 9:28 pm | Reply Lisa Mangels-Schaefer

Congratulations!
on December 10, 2011 at 4:25 pm | Reply manny morales

So happy for you and us. Will buy everyone a round of the best knishes in town come April.
on December 10, 2011 at 6:07 pm | Reply Linda Cronin-Gross

Tricia – Tina told me earlier today…what great news…but what a tragedy that these authentic, hard working Coney Island businesses had to be dragged through a bitter, bitter fight to kick them off the boardwalk with all the financial and emotional pain that entails.

And thanks for being an incredible source of support in all this…I’m a forever fan of Amusing the Zillion…I posted your article on my facebook page.
- on December 12, 2011 at 3:09 pm | Reply Tricia
  
  Thanks, Linda. And thank you for your work publicizing the plight of “The Coney Island 8”! It has been a painful and divisive year for all who work in Coney Island because of the evictions. I hope everyone learned a lesson from this bitter chapter and can now move forward. Some of the businesses that weren’t offered leases may be able to lease space and return as well. What a relief the Boardwalk will not be corporatized and gentrified!
on December 11, 2011 at 10:34 am | Reply Bogframe

So now we have three authentically Brooklyn institutions on the Boardwalk for the 2012 season. Good start, Zamperla/CAI. May one of the “couple hundred people” suggest a good seafood joint? If not Randazzo’s, maybe something like Lundy’s was, featuring native seafood?
on December 12, 2011 at 12:18 pm | Reply Marty Wombacher

This is great news! Look forward to the next season!
- on December 12, 2011 at 2:08 pm | Reply Tricia
  
  I’m looking forward to next season too. Happy to know a few of our old friends on the Boardwalk will be back after all, which means their patrons–including you and others who have written about or protested the evictions–will be back as well. Cheers!