By JOSEPH KELLARD
Instead, she and her family found a home in the East End, with no watering holes nearby.
But for the past two summers, the Egans have been kept awake into the wee hours by noisy nightclubs - in Island Park.
Egan, who lives on East Chester Street between Monroe and Lincoln boulevards - eight blocks south of Reynolds Channel - was among a group of Long Beach and Island Park residents last summer who took their complaints to the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County and the local police. Their focus was the activities - particularly the booming, blaring music - of the clubs on south Barnum Isle, including Bridgeview Yacht Club, Paddy McGee's and Warehouse 5, all owned by John Vitale, whom they also met with.
In response, Vitale - who also owns the neighboring Coyote Grill and Jordan's Lobster - took measures to try to reduce the noise and to keep his patrons from parking on surrounding streets and disturbing residents. This year Vitale has called Egan and other Long Beach and Island Park residents to assure them that he has taken further steps to try to correct the problems - some of them issues of law - associated with his nightclubs, such as the music neighbors near and far hear after 11 p.m., the town code's time limit for loud noise.
"He said he had a new sound engineer come in and has made improvements," Egan, who gave birth to her second child last month, said of Vitale. "He said we should be very happy with it. So we'll see. You won't know until Memorial Day."
Among the changes Vitale made was to turn Bridgeview into a catering hall. He bought the Island Park establishment in 1998, when it was called Sprats and, like other restaurant-bars along the stretch, was immensely popular. Since then, Vitale had not only transformed it into primarily a catering hall, but reduced the nightclub activity from about 100 nights a year to 25, all Saturday nights. "I no longer need the nightclub there, because the banquet business is booming and constantly improving," Vitale explained.
The large speakers that emit a throbbing mega-bass, part of a $10,000 sound system Vitale installed at his clubs in recent years, have been taken down, he said.
"We understand he wants to run his business," Egan said, echoing other Long Beach and Island Park residents. "All along we've been telling him when there's weddings there with a DJ, everything is normal, we don't hear a thing, and you can still have your nightclub without blasting all the neighbors."
Vitale has transferred the nightclub activities at Bridgeview to the adjacent Warehouse5, which he opened last year. He said that Warehouse5 will continue to operate as a nightclub on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and that while it will still have outdoor speakers, the area will be more of a lounge, not a dance floor. "The noise, from my point of view, will be significantly less," Vitale said.
He also noted that Warehouse5 is a third the size of Bridgeview and so will have many fewer club-goers, and that it is becoming a popular place for Sweet 16s and bar mitzvahs. "All of this should significantly cut down on the street parking," Vitale said.
While he did not mention any changes for Paddy McGee's, he dismissed the rumors among his patrons and others that he plans to sell that bar-restaurant property to build condominiums. "I have no plans for that," Vitale said.
In 2004, the Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals approved Vitale's application to convert a warehouse into an amusement park on his property just north of Bridgeview on Beach Street. The plan also encompassed the adjoining property of an auto body shop and a junkyard, and originally included an 18-hole miniature-golf course, a mini-race track with battery-powered cars, a carousel, party rooms and a children's play area.
Vitale has done nothing with those plans, and now has other ideas for the site: a retail shopping center that he said he is close to presenting to the town zoning board. He would not reveal much about what he wants to build, but said, "It's going to change the neighborhood significantly."
Among those who opposed the proposed amusement park were residents of the Yacht Club, a 128-unit condominium complex among the clubs and restaurants on Barnum Isle.
The facility was to have a maximum capacity of 356 people, and Yacht Club residents expressed concerns about increased traffic to an already congested area on weekends and bright lights that would shine on their condos. Some suggested that Vitale instead build a store there, such as a CVS.
Vitale said he has included these and other residents' suggestions in his overall plan for his properties. "I'm trying to be proactive," he said.
Last year, in response to residents' complaints, Vitale hired private security guards to keep club patrons from parking on streets surrounding his clubs, and he roamed Long Beach and Island Park with a noise-measuring device.
Meanwhile, police and the town issued a variety of tickets for violations of the noise code and to club-goers who disturbed the peace. While some residents expressed satisfaction with his changes, others maintained that they still heard the loud music.
This summer, Egan hopes she won't go to bed at 10 p.m. only to be awakened by pulsating music when the clubs open at 11, as was the case the past two summers.
"I'm trying to be optimistic," she said, "and especially with the new baby in the house, I'm up until 2 in the morning. I just want peace."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
