“I endorse what Isaev’s doing,” said Ron Schweiger, Brooklyn’s offical historian. He owns a copy of the original Lundy’s menu.
By Edmund DeMarche
You probably don’t know David Isaev, owner of Cherry Hill Gourmet Market, and he likes that. Wearing a fitted navy blue dress shirt, he dipped a sugar cube in his cup of tea and dissolved the cube in his mouth.
Isaev comes off as confident if not arrogant. He looks like a James Bond-type character, not sure if he’d be the charming good guy or the villain.
He is considered both by residents of Sheepshead Bay. Some see a visionary, intent on injecting life into the Bay by providing a quality market where one can buy cooked meals and them on a balcony overlooking store. They say the changes made to the exterior, which were done without permits from the Landmarks Commission, were necessary due to deteriorating conditions.
The dissenters, however, see a man with dollar signs in his eyes, who knowingly broke strict landmark rules at the building that once housed Lundy’s Restaurant.
Workers were forced to turn off their cement mixer after the Department of Buildings issued David Isaev, the owner of Cherry Hill Market, a Stop Work Order.
By the looks of things inside Lundy’s, he is a man of taste. High-quality light blue marble floors, original stained glass windows and splendid beams of natural light line the floors of the spatial 19,000 square foot establishment. Although work is still in progress, one can see the birth of an excellent new store.
While I was sitting in his office, Isaev was handed a Stop Work Order from the Department of Buildings (DOB). The department conducted an audit of the floor plans of the new store and ruled it went against the special zoning laws in Sheepshead Bay.
According to the DOB, Cherry Hill Market must redesign plans because under current laws, no business can sell groceries along Emmons Avenue. A restaurant, however, would be in complience.
Isaev did not talk about the stop work order that could mean Cherry Hill Gourmet must reconsider plans or move from the property. Instead, he wanted to talk about the future he envisions for the store.
Upon refusing to be photographed, Isaev said, “Here, let me show you the lettering that we supposedly broke the rules to clean.”
He lead me down two flights of stairs past a 1,000 or so square foot balcony where customers will be able to sit and eat seafood, and a 5,000 square foot kitchen at ground level. “Here, take a picture,” he said, treating me like an interrogator who forced him to show me the stash. “You see, I cleaned them. Before they were so dirty, you couldn’t even make the letters out.” Like the awnings, the lettering will eventually be put back into their original place on the façade, he says.
Just over three weeks ago, Isaev was criticized by a slew of what he calls unfair news reports. Cherry Hill Market, the new major occupant of the building, deliberately broke the law by implementing changes to the landmark building’s façade, charged State Senator Carl Kruger and other leaders.
There’s no secret that the sidewalk surrounding the store was replaced with tiles, the famed maroon awnings were removed as well as some lettering—but Isaev insists whole-heartedly that any changes made were simply to enhance the building. Indentical awnings will replace the older ones.
The story has received coverage from larger city dailies. Isaev said articles sided with community leaders who claimed he was “decimating” the property.
One example of an article that might show sympathy for community leaders, was published on Oct. 10, by the Daily News:
Workers at the Emmons Ave. building, landmarked in 1992, have taken down awnings, ripped up the sidewalk to install mosaic tiles, and removed the iconic “F.W.I. Lundy” lettering over the entrance – without the necessary Landmark Commission approval, said state Sen. Carl Kruger.
Although the article was attributed to Kruger, Isaev contends that the media simply saw a story and ran with it, without fact checking.
Isaev is hard to catch. The Brooklyn View ran a story on Lundy’s two weeks ago, and called three times to speak with Isaev. He did not respond. We were forced to quote a manager by the name of Meir from the Cherry Hill Gourmet in Bay Ridge.
Meir seemed to be up to speed, however, saying that the marble tiling outside was put there to accommodate outdoor diners.
The only reason Isaev was giving me a curt, yet guided tour, was because I met Ron Schweiger, Brooklyn’s official historian and friend of mine, outside the building. Schweiger teaches Isaev’s children science at a local Yeshiva.
Schweiger vouched for me. “He’ll give you a fair shake, David,” Schweiger said.
If anyone in Brooklyn knows how to spot a landmark, it’s Ron Schweiger. In 1992, he sat on the board and helped push for the exterior of Lundy’s to receive landmark status, which was eventually granted. He said he trusts Isaev at his word, and that the exterior will not changed in any way other than correcting some imperfections.
“I endorse what Isaev’s doing,” said Schweiger. “It would be bad for business if a business owner allowed torn and beaten awnings to line the store.”
Schweiger pointed out the decaying beige stucco siding on one of the outside walls. “What are you going to do, let the building collapse or have a piece of the façade fall on someone?”
Isaev said he followed city rules to the letter. A year and a half ago, upon leasing the landmark, he said the entire plumbing system had to be fixed, costing him thousands. The store had a “horrible” smell that took months to remove. “Anyone who is criticizing me now, should have seen this place back then. What do the residents want, an empty building?
“I just want to know why, after being approved twice by the DOB, I’m being put through this,” said Isaev, sitting in his office on the second floor overlooking the bay. “Here I’m bringing a new business into the area and the media are just making me look like a bad guy.”
Sheepshead Bay demographics are changing. Once a sleepy fisherman town, the Bay is now home to Loehmann’s, an Applebee’s and 10 new condos. It is widely believed that the future of the Bay pivots with the Lundy’s building. In 1995, when the restaurant reopened after being closed since 1979, shortly after the founder, Irving Lundy’s death, the Bay saw resurgence, sparking development in the area.
Although many community leaders insist the building should stay true to its roots and remain a restaurant, it is believed by Cherry Hill management a restaurant would never succed because of the high rent, said Alex Rabinovich, the architect from Dimo Engineering.
“Look, we’re not dealing with high traffic like you see in Manhattan, where you get tourists and new clients,” said Rabinovich, who also looks like a James Bond character in his 40s with a slight Russian accent. “We are going to get the same people every day.”
The Critics
Criticism from community leaders in south Brooklyn has been swift and fierce.
State Senator Carl Kruger held a press conference on Sept. 29, where he said the removal of the restaurant’s famous awning and concealing letters etched on the façade is a clear violation of it landmark status and vowed to fight to restore the property to its former glory.
“This is a tragedy,” said Kruger. “They destroyed everything dating back to the 1920’s.”
Isaev says that charge is unfair; any changes he made improved the building. “Why would I want to cover lettering outside Lundy’s, the fact this place was the famous Lundy’s restaurant is good for my business, why would I want to change that?”
An hour before the press conference, Isaev visited the offices of Community Board 15 and had a meeting with Theresa Scavo, the board’s chairwoman. Isaev asked Scavo for advice on how to deal with the media firestorm, said Scavo.
She recommended standing beside Kruger and apologizing to the community for the illegal work done on the exterior. This would enable the store to move forward. “That would clear his name,” she said. Isaev did not take her advice. During the conference, he stayed in the building.
Isaev threatened to file a lawsuit against politicians and the newspapers for making up “b******t,” according to Gerritsenbeach.net, a local blog.
Scavo and Isaev maintain a tense relationship. Scavo leased a store at the Lundy’s building and was forced to close to make room for Cherry Hill. That may have been the beginning of the grudge.
While Isaev began cleaning the interior of the restaurant, about a year and a half ago, he told Scavo that the Department of Sanitation was unfairly ticketing him for overflowing dumpsters. He accused Scavo of informing the department. Scavo denies his charge.
“I told him to register Lundy’s as its own store, instead of paying a fine for every store in the building,” said Scavo. “I was trying to help him. The only reason he was getting tickets was because there was just so much trash.” Three other stores occupy Lundy’s building.
Scavo says the treatment Isaev is receiving by the media is justified. She prefers a restaurant, but would fully support the new store, had the owners followed the guidelines issued by the Landmarks Commission.
“The entire outside is landmarked, period,” said Scavo. “If they so much as slightly cracked the wall outside, they’d be in violation.”
As far as Shweiger’s endorsement of the project, Scavo said he doesn’t live in the area and remember Lundy’s with the fervor of people living near the Bay.
“The old Lundy’s had a beautiful entrance with F.W.I L engraved on the ground in marble, they removed that when they put in the new sidewalk.”
Kruger asked to see the permits he was rebuffed, said Kruger. He also insisted that the construction of a gourmet market is not permitted under the requirements of the Sheepshead Bay Special District.
Shortly after the press conference, Cherry Hill was issued a warning giving the owner 60 days to respond, but the renovation continues despite the threat of legal action.
“It’s a shame,” said Brin Baum, who was walking with his wife, Anita, past Lundy’s on Tuesday, Oct. 14. When the two were dating back in 1948, they would frequent Lundy’s.
They would make reservations in advance and stand beside a table when they saw the patrons were up to coffee. “That was a sign they were about to get up,” said Brin Baum.
