Embattled Uptown Party Spot Strikes Back at City in $2M Suit

Uptown party spot La Marina is suing the city for $2 million dollars in damages

Maligned uptown party spot La Marina is suing the city for $2 million in damages, alleging the restaurant lost a good chunk of its business when its landlord, NYC’s Parks and Recreation Department, prohibited valet parking and ticketed beach events on the premises as of last July, according to a lawsuit. La Marina claims the ban was purposely placed in the “height of the summer season” to ensure “maximum damage,” and that ownership wasn’t given a chance to oppose the ban. The restaurant opened in 2012 on city-owned land under a deal with the parks department and has since been involved in a series of scandals — most recently, it was the center of a multi-agency raid in July, which found the restaurant was unsanitary, allowed underage drinking, and violated several liquor laws.

Dyker Heights’s decades-old Nathan’s Famous parlor has closed

Nathan’s Famous in Dyker Heights is shutting its doors after 40 years in the neighborhood, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports. Located at 650 86th St., two blocks away from the Gowanus Expressway, the iconic hot dog shop will live on in the memories of local diners, many of whom showed up this week to bid the restaurant farewell. Resident Dario Veloso, now 53, says he’s been dining at the hot dog parlor since he was 12. The restaurant sold its 20,000-square-foot building plus the land it sits on for about $12 million last year, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. It’s unclear what will replace it. The original Coney Island store remains open, along with dozens of other concession stands and shops in NYC.

City council member wants to require chains to post sugar counts in food

New Yorkers should know how much sugar actually comes in the oatmeal sold at McDonald’s, a City Council member says. A recent bill aims to require fast food chains to reveal how much added sugar their food items contain, and to disclose the count on menu. Chains are already forced to display high sodium and calorie counts. For the record, McDonald’s oatmeal has 33 grams of sugar, or about 8 teaspoons — equivalent to a small barbecue Hawaiian pizza from Domino’s, the councilman says.

Melba Wilson of Melba’s in Harlem now reigns over NYC’s hospitality association

Melba Wilson of Harlem restaurant Melba’s has been named president of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, a lobbying group that represents the city’s restaurants, bars, lounges, hotels, and suppliers in industry-related government issues. Wilson began serving Southern fare at Melba’s in 2005. Early on in her career, she spent some time at Sylvia’s, another soul food gem in Harlem. “May we break glass plates and ceilings together while we run great restaurants and bars,” Wilson says in a news announcement.