Latest news with #Greenport
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
HBO star launches $5m curveball claiming mayor staged bogus raid to crush his glam new celebrity hotspot
A reality TV star and restaurateur is suing a ritzy Long Island village and its mayor, alleging they 'forcibly closed' his Mediterranean restaurant by slapping it with 'bogus' violations. Zach Erdem is seeking $5million in damages after the village officials in Greenport - on the north fork of Long Island - and its mayor Kevin Stuessi shut down ZErdem during one of its opening weekends, according to a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York. Erdem told the Daily Mail that about 11 Greenport officials, including Stuessi, stormed into ZErdem on a Saturday night in June 2023 while customers were present and demanded the establishment close its doors immediately. Stuessi allegedly directed the 'unlawful raid' and screamed at restaurant staff, read the lawsuit filed in June 2025, which was viewed by the Daily Mail. After the restaurant closed, the village issued 24 code violations accusing Erdem of running a hookah lounge, serving alcohol without a license and playing music too loud outdoors, among other things. The Turkish-born business owner called these accusations 'baseless' and argued that village officials discriminated against him by failing to give advanced notice of the alleged code violations. The legal battle lasted over a year and was covered extensively by local media. Erdem's lawsuit claimed this 'public spectacle' hurt his business to the tune of millions of dollars. Erdem is the star of HBO Max's Serving the Hamptons, a reality TV show that delves into the lives of him and his staff at his Southampton restaurant 75 Main. Just up the street from 75 Main, which has hosted stars ranging from the Kardashians to the Biden family, is his seafood restaurant, which shares a building with a pop-up eatery run by Rocco DiSpirito and a nightclub. Erdem is more established in Southampton, but he wants to become a fixture in Greenport, a village on the North Fork of Long Island which is an hour away from Southampton by car. It has a population of just over 2,000 residents and has been touted as an alternative to the Hamptons on the South Fork. Erdem said the last thing he wanted to do was get into a fight with Stuessi, who he called a 'dumb***'. 'I didn't want to open a lawsuit for this mayor,' he said. 'I just want to be peaceful, have a business there and be part of the community and serve Greenport. I love Greenport, and I love the people there.' The village filed a lawsuit against Erdem in Suffolk County Supreme Court. It accused him of violating village ordinances by hooking up a camper to the building's electricity and using it to house employees. Erdem told the Daily Mail the camper was never wired to the building and that none of his employees stayed in it while it temporarily sat in the restaurant's parking lot. It was there for two days until he could move it to a campground roughly a mile away from the restaurant, he said. Erdem was also particularly frustrated by the claim that he had been serving alcohol at his restaurant without a liquor license. 'I am in the business for years. I will never do anything without state or any legal papers or permitting issues,' he said. Erdem claimed officials mistook a service bar outside the restaurant with an actual bar where drinks were being prepared. This area was solely used to wash plates and store dirty tablecloths, he said. One of the tickets issued by the village and viewed by the Daily Mail said the restaurant was illegally selling alcoholic beverages at around 4pm on June 2, 2023. 'The place was not even open. That's how stupid they are. The place opens for dinner at 5pm,' Erdem said. Erdem said the village's decision to sue him over his alleged violation of New York state's liquor regulations unfairly delayed him in obtaining a license to serve alcohol at ZErdem. He secured the license in August 2024, after the Suffolk County Supreme Court dismissed the village's lawsuit in July. Although ZErdem was open in the summers of 2023 and 2024, Erdem said he wasn't operating at full capacity since he couldn't serve alcohol. 'This year is the first time we're fully open. Everyone knows we have a liquor license. Everyone is aware of it,' he said. 75 Main (pictured) is one of the Hamptons' most glamorous hotspots - an A-list magnet nestled in the heart of the East End's elite dining scene Representatives for the mayor and the village of Greenport did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. The only public response to Erdem's lawsuit that the village has offered was a succinct statement from Brian S Stolar, a lawyer representing the village. 'The claims have no merit and the village will defend against any such claims in court,' Stolar said. This comes as Bernardo Bolanos, a former code enforcement officer with Greenport, sued the village for wrongful termination. Bolanos alleged that the mayor directed him 'to target' Erdem for building code violations, while also ordering him to be lax with other businesses in the area. The village has filed a motion to dismiss this suit.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Celebrity Hamptons restaurateur plunged into toxic battle that's the talk of New York's elite
A reality TV star and restaurateur is suing a ritzy Long Island village and its mayor, alleging they 'forcibly closed' his Mediterranean restaurant by slapping it with 'bogus' violations. Zach Erdem is seeking $5million in damages after the village officials in Greenport - on the north fork of Long Island - and its mayor Kevin Stuessi shut down ZErdem during one of its opening weekends, according to a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York.
Forbes
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The North Fork TV Festival Celebrates 10 Years
Supporting independent program development. Building a regional event into a respected festival for the television industry. Fostering a sense of camaraderie in the North Fork, Long Island community. Celebrating 10 years, the North Fork TV Festival has transitioned from a competition for creators to submit their television pilots into a renowned celebration for emerging artists, creators, industry executives, professionals, and film enthusiasts. Slated for Tuesday, June 17 and Tuesday, June 18 at the Sound View Seaside Resort in Greenport, New York, the North Fork TV Festival, per the official descriptor, is a 'creative community that champions bold original work, with a launchpad for diverse storytellers celebrating the art of television.' Specifically, the North Fork TV Festival offers a platform for independent television projects and their creators. It features industry panels, discussions, and networking events. It recognizes and honors individuals who have contributed to the independent television landscape. And, set in Greenport, New York, the festival supports a community that is home to Noah Doyle, who founded the North Fork TV Festival in 2016. 'It was a different time for television when we began. Episodic scripted TV was breaking out. We weren't necessarily talking about what shows we were binging on Netflix or any streaming service. And artists had begun creating independently produced TV pilots,' noted Noah Doyle. 'Once we started a competition for people to submit their television pilots, there were suddenly submissions from around the world, where we selected the honorees in a one-day festival.' 'From there, we spent the next couple of years building the program into a full festival, which prior COVID already housed thousands of attendees. We started giving out awards and honors. And we added panel discussions centered on the television business in a fun and light atmosphere to bring more arts and culture out to North Fork,' he said. "People let their guard down, which is the culture we wanted to create." This year, Christopher Meloni, star of Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime, will receive the 2025 Canopy Award, which recognizes a career of enduring impact and innovation in television. Earlier, Meloni rose to fame as criminal Chris Keller in the HBO prison drama Oz. Severance star Tramell Tillman will be honored with the Breakout Performance Award, which per the North Folk TV Festival, 'celebrates his performance, which has captivated audiences and defined a moment in television.' Tillman, who was a pre-med student with plans to become an orthopedic surgeon, currently appears in the latest Mission: Impossible theatrical, The Final Reckoning. Other guests at the North Fork TV Festival this year include Veep star and six-time Emmy Award nominee Anna Chlumsky, who rose to early fame at age 11 in the 1991 film My Girl; veteran actor Richard Kind, currently seen on Only Murders in the Building and who boasts an acting resume with over 300 credits; former This Is Us star Susan Kelechi Watson, who recently appeared in Netflix miniseries The Residence; and Jenn Lyon from Netflix limited series Sirens and TNT drama Claws. In addition to a two-day agenda of screenings, panels, networking events is a reimagined Inside the Actors Studio series, which was originally hosted by the late James Lipton and originally aired on Bravo from 1994 to 2018 before briefly airing on Ovation in 2019. 'People gave us feedback that they want to be able to talk to and experience the actors in a more intimate environment, which is why we created this new version of Inside the Actor Studio. This new incarnation will create an intimate, relaxed environment for candid conversations with our roster of talent,' said Doyle. 'The mainstays of the festival have always been the independently produced television pilot competition, which will have three different screenings over the two days. And then, on Tuesday night, this year's Canopy honoree is Christopher Maloni, who has been a mainstay in scripted episodic television for decades.' 'We also started a program called 'Behind the Pitch," where emerging TV writers, directors, and producers can apply to and then take meetings with individuals who work professionally in the TV industry," he said. 'So, there is a great deal packed in those 48 hours."
