Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

The hits keep on coming for embattled Central Park Boathouse operator Dean Poll.

After a surprise walk-out earlier this month (including a row boat siege on the landmark), employees are now accusing the restaurant of serving filtered tap water, disguised as bottled water, for $8 a pop.

The Daily News reports (2nd item) workers claim to have been forced to deceive customers for years. The striking workers have recently taken to handing out “REAL & FREE Bottled Spring Water” with their “Dump Dean” slogan emblazoned on a label that claims he “cheats his employees and the taxpayers of New York City.”

If employees turning against him wasn’t bad enough, now his own family is doing the same. The Daily News also has the story of Poll’s 26-year-old cousin, Chrissy Makris (an Upper West Sider!).

Makris started working at the Boathouse as a waitress in March (after her father bumped into Poll at a family funeral) and was fired in June — she says it was because she’s a union supporter. Makris claims breaks were rare and staff “weren’t even allowed to drink water.”

A spokesman for The Boathouse gave a different story: “She wasn’t performing well, so she was let go.”

Makris is now on the picket line, joined by her parents (her father is Poll’s cousin).

Filed under: Central Park, Food & Drink, Going Out, Landmark, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Restaurants, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 1 Comment »
Tags: bottled water, Central Park, Central Park Boathouse, Chrissy Makris, Dean Poll, Dump Dean, labor, New York City, NYC, Strike, tap water, Union, Upper West Side, UWS