Southold Town judge lifts preliminary injunction that shuttered new Greenport eatery

A Southold Town justice on Wednesday vacated a preliminary injunction she had issued over the weekend that allowed Greenport Village to shut down a restaurant which the mayor said was in violation of numerous village codes and state law for serving alcohol without a liquor license.

“I’ve done my own research, and I don’t see any authority” to continue the injunction against ZErdem, said Town Justice Eileen Powers, referring to reality TV star Zach Erdem’s new Greenport restaurant.

Judge Powers said only a New York State Supreme Court judge can grant a new stay that would prevent the restaurant at 314 Main Road from reopening.

Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi, who was on hand for the hearing, told the judge the village would move “immediately” to petition the state Supreme Court for a new preliminary injunction.

Mr. Erdem — who stars in ‘Serving the Hamptons,’ a reality show which follows the staff and celebrity guests at Southampton’s 75 Main restaurant, which he also owns —did not appear in court Wednesday and did not send a lawyer to represent him. He did not immediately respond to questions about whether he will reopen the restaurant now that the injunction has been lifted.

In asking the judge to extend the injunction, Greenport Village Attorney Joseph Prokop said the restaurant has “significant health and safety issues which are a major concern to the village.”

“It’s not that I’m unsympathetic and don’t want to help,” Judge Powers said before reiterating that she had no authority to do so.  

The violations cited by village officials this week included housing people in a trailer behind the restaurant, various safety hazards and the breaking of what Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi described as a promise by the restaurant owner to officials and residents at a Village Board meeting two weeks ago that he would not play music outdoors on the restaurant’s patio.

After the hearing, Mr. Stuessi said in an interview that new violations of village code had been discovered since the preliminary injunction was issued Saturday. He said Mr. Erdem was housing people in the rooms above the restaurant in violation of village codes.

Mr. Erdem has denied violating state liquor laws and said the code enforcement issues were misunderstandings. Last Thursday, he said that all the code violations were mitigated as soon as the restaurant management was made aware of them.

In the interview last week, Mr. Erdem said that the restaurant received formal notice from the State Liquor Authority on May 31 of an approved liquor license for ZErdem, and that prior to that, no customer was ever charged money for alcohol.

“I’ve been in this business for 25 years,” he said. “I would never, ever do something so stupid. We did not serve alcohol. Either people brought their own or we were just pouring [liquor] for people and not charging them money,” he said.