Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

The Central Park Boathouse is back in the news again. In April their were accusations of a variety of improprieties, resulting in a union rally outside the restaurant. Now, six workers have filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Boathouse. This comes on the heels of the recent sexual harassment suit at another Upper West Side restaurant — Gabriela’s.

According to the Daily News, supervisors at The Boathouse routinely pressured female employees for sex.

One manager made female workers view naked cell phone photos of women he claimed he bedded, a complaint filed by banquet waitress Amanda Philips said. He even fondled the breast of a startled female waitress one day, according to a former male worker who claimed to have witnessed the incident.

“This same manager kept calling me after work and insisted I go out with him,” former banquet waitress Alejandra Betancur told the Daily News. “I refused and told him I was married. He later became angry when he learned I was pregnant.” After that, Betancur said, the manager assigned her to the most strenuous jobs in an effort to get her to quit.

Another supervisor talked openly about which waitresses and patrons he wanted to take to bed. This second supervisor once urged a female subordinate to hug him so he could “feel my boobs,” another banquet waitress claimed.

In addition to the sexual harassment and union busting charges, The News mentions that in 2007, City Controller William Thompson found that Boat house operator Dean Poll had under-reported to the city more than $2.3 million in revenues – including more than $1.3 million the restaurant claimed in expenses for banquet tips, but which it never paid to its waiters.

In light of these most recent allegations, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is now urging Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to revoke Poll’s contract to operate the restaurant and boating concessions at the park.

“There’s a consistent pattern here of sexual harassment, stealing employees’ tips, preventing people from joining a union,” de Blasio said.

Accusations are just that, and this still need to play out. That said, given the multitude of complaints that have been filed against Poll and his operations in recent years, he certainly SEEMS to be a huge dirtbag.

Filed under: Central Park, Crime, Food & Drink, Going Out, Landmark, News, Restaurants, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog 1 Comment »
Tags: Boathouse sexual harassment lawsuit, Central Park, Central Park Boathouse, Dean Poll, New York City, NYC, sexual harassment lawsuit, Upper West Side, UWS