West side brewery has building problem

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNew York

April 28, 2008

An Upper West Side brewery has a noisy neighbor problem.

Mark and Elizabeth Bahna, who run the Westside Brewing Co., said business is down 20 percent since last year when construction started on the Harrison, a two-tower luxury condo on Amsterdam Avenue between 76th and 77th streets.

"If we could pay the rent every month we'd be very lucky," Mark Bahna said. "It gets worse every day. You can't even get deliveries."

Bahna said that the construction has not only disrupted business but also damaged property, which prompted them to file a lawsuit. Construction workers allegedly drilled through the brewery's bathroom wall, and the restaurant lost three weeks of business while it shut down for repairs, he said.

They spent about $40,000 for a team of three lawyers, but the legal battle is uphill, Bahna said.

"You can't fight these guys because they have 50 attorneys and they're a multibillion-dollar company. They just wear you out," he said.

The Harrison's developer, Related Cos., has more than $10 billion in property developments, according to its Web site. Calls for comment were not returned. The Harrison is slated to open in the spring or summer 2009.

The Bahnas are looking for a new location, preferably on the Upper West Side, he said. But the search for an affordable space has been unsuccessful, with asking rent prices higher than $50,000 a month.

The restaurant's lease ended March 31, but the landlord, who also operates the Amsterdam Inn upstairs, allowed them to stay through September -- if they make it that long.

"We'd love to stay. Whether we'd be able to, I don't know," Bahna said.

To keep costs at a minimum, the restaurant is maintaining a smaller staff, lowering paid hours, and cutting advertising out of the budget.