Eric Ulrich and Elizabeth Crowley
The NY Post
Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Rockaway-Ozone Park) claimed that Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale) used her office to shutter the popular waterfront Bayview Grille & Marina in Broad Channel because her two sons were attacked outside the eatery.A Queens legislator charges that one of his colleagues abused her power, saying in an ethics complaint that she used her position to sic government agencies on a waterfront restaurant after her sons were assaulted outside the establishment.
Her son Dennis O’Hara, 20, was working at Bayview and her other son, Owen, 19, was hanging out nearby when the two got roughed up on July 1, 2016.
Ulrich filed the complaint with the Conflicts of Interest Board on April 3 after the owner told him that a multi-agency team — including police, fire fighters and Buildings Department and State Liquor Authority agents — swooped in to investigate the restaurant.
The Department of Investigation opened a probe and interviewed the restaurateur, Nicholas Martelli. The Jamaica Bay property is owned by his uncle, Anthony Martelli.
“The landlord of the establishment (NBAR CORP d/b/a Bayview) contacted me today to inform me that they believe they are being targeted by Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, whose son is a former employee at Bayview. Apparently, after he was recently involved in a physical altercation . . . The bar was subsequently visited / inspected by multiple city and state agencies, including the SLA,” Ulrich wrote the board.
“The owners allege that one of the police officers from the 100th precinct told them Council Member Crowley called to report underage drinking, etc.,” Ulrich said.
He pointed out that the restaurant is located in his district, not Crowley’s.
The inciting incident occurred Owen O’Hara was trying to get into an Uber car and leave when someone hit him from behind, Martelli said.
Dennis O’Hara rushed out to help his brother. He, too, was attacked and ended up hospitalized for 10 days.
Crowley denied Ulrich’s claims, calling them baseless and said she was never contacted by DOI.
“Her only involvement with this restaurant is contacting law enforcement after her sons were assaulted there, as any mother would do, and taking every step to aid their recovery from this attack,” said Crowley spokesman Doug Forand.
The Crowley spokesman also pointed out that alleged Bonanno mobster Rober Pisani, a defendant in a federal loan sharking case, has ties to Bayview.
Bayview is still closed as it seeks necessary government approvals to reopen.
The DOI declined to comment.
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