It looks like Brooklyn is taking back the concessions at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Less than a month after Manhattan restaurateurs learned that they would control half the food and drink locations this summer on Pier 1, the Lobster Pound in Red Hook announced that it would sell its delicious rolls next to the pier anyway — despite losing to those Manhattan businesses in the application process.
“We wanted to be in the park, but it didn’t work out,” said Sam Sherman, a Lobster Pound employee who was serving customers in a tent near the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory across the street from the entrance to Pier 1 at the foot of Old Fulton Street in DUMBO.
“[Developers said] this park is supposed to offer the best of Brooklyn — we are definitely the best of Brooklyn, so here we are.”
Now park-goers can enjoy lobster Thursday through Sunday from 1 pm to 7 pm at the Fulton Ferry Landing pier.
Indeed, the new Lobster Pound tent not only flies in the face of the failed concession venture at the park, it also opened before the four concessions on Pier 1, which are supposed to start hawking ice cream, tacos and wine sometime this month. Lobster Pound workers said competition wasn’t really a factor in their move to DUMBO on Memorial Day weekend, but the delicious roll ($15) is a Red Hook staple and a killer contender for the park’s customer attention.
Folks who already operate businesses near the pier see this as an opportunity. In fact, workers at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory who OK’d the neighborly set-up said that Lobster Pound may have a new permanent home.
“We’re trying it out — we know that Lobster Pound is great,” said Mark Thompson, owner of the ice cream shop. “Before they went through all that trouble with the park application, I thought this location was better anyway.”
Regardless, the foot of Old Fulton Street is shaping up to be a foodie hotspot this summer, that is, once the competition — Blue Marble Ice Cream, Calexico Carne Asada, and a wine bar among them — arrives later this month.
Lobster Pound on Fulton Ferry Landing (Just behind the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory at the foot of Old Fulton Street in DUMBO). For info, visit www.redhooklobsterpound.com.
