Say It Ain't So: Is Sheepshead Bay Fixture Being Sold?

We were alarmed to read a comment related to a photo of Lundy's, the landmark eatery on Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, that we posted last week. The comment was from someone who works at Lundy's. It said, in part, "I constantly overhear the owners preparing to sell the place! So all you GL readers come on by - before Lundy's may be NO MORE!!!"

What's the big deal? For starters, Lundy's has (sort of) been around just shy of a century. It opened in Sheepshead Bay in 1907. At the time, it was on the bay side of Emmons, sitting on pilings in the water. It opened at the present site (which is the northwest corner of Emmons and Ocean Avenue) in 1938. Lundy's was one of those humongous places that's hard to imagine these days--it could serve 2,800 people at a seating.

A lot of people point to the closing of Lundy's in 1979, after the last of the Lundy brother died, as being symbolic of the 1970s/80s tailspin of the Sheepshead Bay waterfront. It quickly became a derelict landmark with broken windows. Likewise, there are those who say the reopening of Lundy's in 1995 was a turning point in the waterfront's subsequent comeback. (It's one-third the size of the original.)

We're no Sheephead Bay natives, but we certainlly enjoy heading down there now and then when the weather is nice, just like we enjoy our regular trips to Brighton Beach and Coney Island. Let's hope the talk of sale doesn't pan out or, that if it does, new owners keep it open. Lundy's is to Sheepshead Bay what Junior's is downtown Brooklyn. You can't replace that kind of history once you lose it.