Montauk tavern battles ‘Footloose’ cops over strict no-dance rules

A century-old Montauk tavern is leading the charge against the East Hampton “Footloose” police who are again threatening to shut restaurants that clear the floor for patrons to dance as the summer season begins, Side Dish has learned. 

The owners of Shagwong Tavern — where everyone from cops and firefighters, to war heroes and luminaries like Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol have hung out, and even danced — pleaded their case at a recent East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)  to drop the draconian no-dancing rules.

“There’s been dancing at the Shagwong Tavern since at least the 1940s,” co-owner Jon Krasner told Side Dish.  

Last summer, East Hampton officials seized on the ‘no dancing’ rule to crack down on the Shagwong and other restaurants that were not zoned as a nightclub.  

The town, which oversees Montauk, sent in inspectors and levied heavy fines, forcing Ruschmeyer’s to shutter at the start of summer after it lost its temporary liquor license because officials had discovered patrons dancing. 

The enforcement sweep also found that the Shagwong moved tables out of the restaurant to allow for more room to dance, a violation of zoning rules first formed in 1996.

The ZBA, in a contentious 3-2 split, ruled against Shagwong last December but the case was reopened a week later because no written determination was filed, according to The East Hampton Star.

On May 2, Shagwong’s lawyer Jon Tarbet argued that the tavern should be grandfathered in because people have danced there long before the zoning rule.

“To me it smells of ‘Footloose,’” Tarbet told the five-member board. “You’re in downtown Montauk. You’ve been there 100 years. You have a roomful of locals, all we want to do is go down there, have dinner, have a drink and dance, and the town is trying to stop that, 100 percent.”

The ZBA won’t make a final decision on Shagwong’s case for perhaps another two months.

Town supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc told Side Dish the no-dancing enforcement is “not anti-business.”

“This is an overcrowding and safety issue. If people endanger their patrons, we will shut them down if that is what it takes,” Van Scoyoc said.  “We aren’t anti-business but outliers are making it unfair for everyone.”  

“Shagwong is a bar and restaurant, not a nightclub or dance hall and the town doesn’t believe they can operate as one. They can apply for a change of use but they aren’t likely to get it,” he added. 

During the ZBA hearing, several East End locals fondly recalled dancing the night away at the Montauk Highway tavern.  

Shawn Hewitt, whose father, Jimmy, owned the tavern from 1969 until 2015, said he remembered cleaning up on Saturdays and Sundays when there were no tables in the dining room because of all the dancing. 

“I grew up on top of the Shagwong,” Hewitt, who is currently the chef at the nearby Sel Rrose, told the board, according to The Star.

“Saturdays I would go down to collect change off the floor. It was a lot easier on Saturday and Sunday because there were no tables. I’d get two things done at the same time. I’d sweep the floor and keep the change. They’ve always taken out those tables and chairs, since I was 1 year old. It’s always been that way.”

Krasner insisted the dancing crackdown is part of a bigger conflict between the East End’s retired population who want a quieter Montauk and younger revelers who flood the town during the summer. 

“I think we got up in a whole political push to chase the partiers out of Montauk which I don’t understand because Carl Fisher built Montauk in the 1920s as a place for vacationers to have fun,” Krasner told Side Dish. 

The code enforcement is not limited to dancing. 

Sel Rrose owner Kristin Vincent said the fire marshall told her to take down thousands of dollars worth of pink flowers from the doorway because it was a fire hazard as she spruced up for the Memorial Day Weekend rush — and the money it will bring.

“We’re worried, we are very worried. It was a rough winter. Not as many people were up and we need to make our money now to keep going,” said Vincent, who opened Sel Rrose five years ago. 

She then credited the fire marshall for coming back “with paperwork to show us how to make the flowers non-flammable,” 

“I felt harassed by the flowers but then he was nothing but kind,” Vincent said. “I want to think there is hope but there has never been. If you are on their radar, they are going to get you.”