Another restaurant in Roslyn affected by shutdowns of portions of Old Northern Boulevard for the filming of an Apple Studios series said it was inconvenienced by a lack of communications from the show managers and the Village of Roslyn.
Parts of the street were closed for 26 hours from 9 p.m. Monday, March 28, to 11 p.m. the next day for work on the series, “Brass Tactics.”
“No Parking” flyers were hung up on Old Northern Boulevard ahead of the shoot, according to show officials.
In correspondence with the village obtained by Blank Slate Media, location managers for the show told village officials that flyers were hung up Wednesday, March 23, and that businesses between Mill Creek South and East Broadway were being notified of the closures.
Owners of Thyme Restaurant, located at 8 Tower Place, told Richard Branciforte, president of the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce, that customers were furious about not being able to enter the street or the parking lot.
“At NO time did anybody from the village, production company or crew ever speak with us about a closure,” Nancy Serna, an owner of the restaurant, told Branciforte. “The production company even had the audacity to tell a customer to move their Tesla as it was interfering in their business … If you were to ask local businesses what our losses were that evening, I can assure you it was way beyond that amount. At a time when restaurants and small businesses are trying to get back on even footing this is egregious.”
Serna said reservations were lost due to the road closure.
Thyme Restaurant joins other nearby businesses such as Delicacies Gourmet Delicatessen, Gatsby’s Landing and YOLO Yogurt and Desserts that Branciforte said were kept out of the loop.
When contacted for comment, village officials provided an email between them and Joe Mullaney, location manager for the show, in which he said a location assistant had been going “door to door” on Old Northern Boulevard between Mill Creek South and East Broadway and that someone else “introduced himself to several businesses” to give them a heads-up about the filming request.
The Village of Roslyn had no responsibility in the closing of the road since it belongs to the county. The village charged a $9,000 filming fee that will go toward administrative costs and revenues for greenery in the village and to suspend parking meters in the winter between holidays.
Branciforte previously said that the next time something like this happens, things need to change to help businesses.
“The chamber is not opposed to filming in the village,” he said. “But when there’s filming taking place there needs to be adequate communication ahead of time.”
Branciforte also rebutted what the village said in regard to Delicacies accepting monetary compensation for the inconvenience of closing the parking lot next door, saying the owner, Jim Zanfardino, did not accept the $1,000 that was offered to Delicacies before the shooting.
“The village took it at total face value that something was done. These businesses were not alerted ahead of time,” Branciforte said. “Communication should have been sent out when the permit was given.”