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Mostly Cloudy Nautical Mile business protests potential closure
Shutdown order viewed by business as unfair
Just before 5 p.m. on a recent Monday, Kenneth “Kenny” Ware sat in a booth in his restaurant, Backyard Barbeque, and talked about what transpired before and after Aug. 2, when the restaurant received a cease-and-desist order from the Village of Freeport.
Though he and co-owner Michael Toney immediately complied by shutting down the restaurant, they thought the letter represented an increasing trend of unfair oversight by the village compared with other Nautical Mile businesses.
“We got repeated citations from the Building Department about different compliances,” Ware said, “like one saying that neighboring restaurants had complained about the signs we put in our windows advertising the name of the restaurant and our telephone number. I didn’t know signs in windows were an issue, but we removed them immediately.” Now, the only sign is the one over the door.
Those citations were only part of the story.
Ware said he believes Backyard Barbeque may be targeted for excessive oversight because it is Black-owned. “We’re just here to bring good food to the Village of Freeport,” Ware said, “but this happened after we did all the things we’re supposed to do.
“This year, we received multiple visits from the Nassau County Health Department after passing [required] inspections,” Ware noted. “The first one” — on April 16, 2021 — “was regular. It should have been good for a year.” But the Health Department visited again on May 12 and July 17. One of the visits was prompted by a complaint that Backyard Barbeque customers were not wearing masks and also that the restaurant was operating over capacity.
No violations were issued as a result of those inspections, nor was any violation notice given when the State Liquor Authority made a surprise inspection at 9 p.m. on June 25.
Then came the Aug. 2 cease-and-desist letter that claimed Backyard Barbeque was out of compliance with quality-of-life codes.
According to a press kit assembled by Ware, the letter stated that “your establishment jeopardizes the health, safety, and welfare of persons frequenting the premises and the surrounding community.” It also stated that “this location has been a focal point of police attention during the late night hours with groups congregating in the parking lot, creating noise and performing other quality-of-life violations.”
The wording ignored the fact that Backyard Barbecue has cooperated immediately with notices of any issues, Ware said. He emphasized that, apart from a ticket received at one point for playing loud music, the restaurant’s record is clean.
Ware also said that the SLA inspection, the July 17 health inspection and the cease-and-desist letter all occurred after June 20. On that night, a fight from a restaurant across Woodcleft Avenue spilled over into the parking lot of the strip mall in which Backyard Barbeque is located.
“We were working in our restaurant area, serving food,” Ware said. “We saw a crowd outside but didn’t know that it came from another restaurant. We didn’t know a fight was happening until somebody threw a chair from outside through the window.” Two windows were damaged.
Ware and Toney had their windows repaired. But the inspections increased, as did the presence of police cars sitting in the parking lot on many nights.
Then came the cease-and-desist letter. Ware posted an appeal on social media for supporters to call Mayor Robert Kennedy’s office to protest. On Aug. 6, Ware posted a grateful selfie video on Facebook because more than 100 calls had reached the mayor within two days.
“I’m thanking Mayor Kennedy,” said Ware, “because he called and told us that we could file an appeal to the letter and then reopen until after our hearing.”
His press kit pointed out that no violence has occurred at his restaurant, yet the June 20 incident, which overflowed from across the street, apparently prompted the excess inspections and the letter.
The situation is especially upsetting, Ware said, because a number of instances of violence have occurred at two White-owned restaurants on the Nautical Mile in the past five years, yet those establishments were never ordered to shut down.
The next step will be the hearing. Ware received a notice on Aug. 9 from the Village of Freeport notifying him that the hearing would occur at Village Hall on Aug. 23.
“I feel the mayor listens with open ears and takes things into consideration,” said Ware. Nonetheless, “We have to hire a lawyer. We’re not sure how to proceed. I hope we can have people come to the hearing and speak to our character and their experience of the restaurant.”
When asked for a comment on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 11, Mayor Kennedy responded, "The Village of Freeport police and attorneys are looking forward to meeting with the owner of Backyard Barbeque in an effort to resolve current pending violations and conformance to village codes, rules, and regulations in the future. The safety of our residents and visitors on the Nautical Mile is a priority to this administration. I am sure that these issues can be resolved amicably for both parties."
