Brooklyn Marina. Photo Loris Azzano

Some in the community are upset with the board of the Queens Recreational Boating Association for giving notice to canteen operator Sharon Westlake they would not be leasing the Brooklyn Marina kitchen to her next year.

Westlake had been serving hot food out of the marina kitchen for the past several years but was informed she would not be offered the space to continue next summer.

A photo of the letter was shared on social media sparking an outcry of support for Westlake.

Association president Loris Azzano says the decision is no reflection on Westlake, her staff or the food, the marina simply needed the kitchen back to be able to provide more events for their members.

“Once you lease out that space you shut that door and inside that door is her space. Some of the comments were saying, you could use it when she’s not around and work around her hours. Well, that’s not how it works,” said Azzano. “We gave up the space. She’s got her own equipment, her own food in the fridge. You can’t go in and say okay, for Saturday I’m going to have a function and I’m going to start using your kitchen.”

Azzano says the 63 boating slips at the Brooklyn Marina have been booked solid for the past  two years and they have a waiting list.

He understands some people may complain about losing access to the canteen but at $450 a year, the slip fees are very inexpensive, and for $20 per year, anyone can have a social membership to the marina, they don’t need to own a boat.

Azzano says the Queens Recreational Boating Association board have made several upgrades to the Marina including new docks, installing a roof over the veranda and fresh paint.

He says now that they’ve taken care over the physical needs, they need to make long-term plans for the club, and they can’t do that without have full control over their own building.

“I’m disappointed that it went this far. And yet, on the one level, how do you let people know that we weren’t doing anything to discredit what Sharon has done and we weren’t doing anything against the community at large,” said Azzano. “It’s just from an operating marina facility, we really do need to control our own space. We need to be able to at least control it and then decide what we can offer, within the limitations of what we have as a facility.”

Azzano says the board will take the winter to determine how many volunteers and staff they will have next year before making plans for how the canteen will operate and what they can offer.

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Sailboats line up along a dock at Brooklyn Marina. Photo Ian Clark

Brooklyn Marina is thriving during the pandemic.

The organization just released their annual report which shows the number of people involved with boating has increased dramatically in the past year and a half.

Membership is up from 69 in 2020 to 86 this year, while the number of docks being used has also risen from 47 last year to 63 in 2021.

Marina president Ian Clark says people were tired of being stuck at home and were looking to get outside.

“The pandemic has really seen recreational boating really take off in the past one and a half to two year and I think basically, what it came down to is that, people were tired of isolated and literally, they wanted to get out, you know, a breath of fresh air,” said Clark.

He says they’ve reached capacity at their docks however, members can still bring boats and launch them on a daily basis. Anyone wishing to find a permanent home for their boat needs to get on a wait list.

Clark is not surprised the marina has become so popular.

“The area around Brooklyn Marina is fantastic,” said Clark. “The fact that you’ve got a fairly sheltered bay on the open ocean. But the other thing of course, is you’ve got Coffin Island which you can go and visit.”

Clark says some of their members have been with the marina since it’s founding almost 25 years ago.

He says having people in the organization who know the history is an amazing resource and he’s equally excited about many of the new faces he is seeing.

“Getting people coming in from different communities or even out of the province is that, they have had membership at marinas elsewhere and come up with ideas that we’ll take a look at.”

Clark says those ideas are welcome now that many of the pandemic restrictions have been eased and the marina can return to hosting more social events.

“We’ve got a really good bunch of people on the marina board who are constantly coming up with great ideas. 2022 is going to be pretty exciting.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.