Morris Park Inn reintroduces the neighborhood bar
BY KYLE VUILLE
“Sometimes you want to go
where everybody knows your
name…”
The Morris Park Inn may
not have Ted Danson slinging
the drinks, but the neighborhood
bar located at 1024 Morris
Park Avenue still has the
charm of Cheers and maybe a
feisty bar maiden or two like
Carla.
For many years, Doyles
Pub was the bar where neighbors,
families, and friends
frequented to share pints and
laughter.
Co-owner Joe Lacerra and
his wife Giovanna were patrons
of Doyles and were saddened
to see the bar close several
years ago.
“All of our memories were
made there,” Giovanna said.
As fate would have it, the
couple moved to Morris Park,
but quickly realized there
wasn’t a good old-fashioned
pub to meet friends anymore,
but like the Phoenix rising
from the ashes, the MP Inn set
afoot.
Lacerra, owns a body shop,
but possessed the life long
dream of having a neighborhood
bar.
Good friends, Lacerra and
Stephen Poli, an oil truck
driver for many years, and
now co-owner, decided it was
time to fi ll the community’s
needs of having a “Cheers”
like establishment.
“Joey and I know a lot of the
community, but then Stephen
came into the picture with another
generation of people as
well,” Giovanna said.
After muscling through
building permits, licensing,
cosmetic renovations and
fresh kitchen equipment, The
Morris Park Inn opened this
past November.
Residents support ferry expansion to Ferry Point Park
BRONX TIMES R 28 EPORTER, MARCH13-19, 2020 BTR
Giovanna added the earthy
tones of paint inside the MP
inn are meant to make everyone
feel warm and welcomed.
“We wanted to keep it Irish,
Italian, but also modern and
most importantly, make everyone
who walks in here feel
welcome,” Giovanna said.
With such a focus on community,
Giovanna said her
goal is use the bar as a platform
for fundraisers, food
drives and events.
“My goal is to just educate
myself better,” Giovanna said.
“I’m always thinking of new
ways to incorporate the community.”
Like any good neighborhood
bar, the MP Inn offers a
full food menu and wide variety
of liquor.
Poli highlighted the bar
has already become known
for their jumbo pretzels and
curated selection of scotch.
The man behind the good
eats, John Denizard, Executive
Chef, said he’s pleased
with the kitchen operations
and the family atmosphere.
He pointed out all the food and
produce are purchased locally
in the community.
“It’s a great space with
great people,” Denizard said.
“Just a place to order food,
have a couple drinks and hang
for the night and it’s all neighborhood
people.”
Denizard said the kitchen
will soon have a new Sunday
brunch menu.
The bar and restaurant
also offers delivery at a $20
minimum.
“We just started delivering
and we want to make it a big
thing for the hospitals in the
area,” Poli said.
Poli said Tuesday Karaoke
nights have been popular and
Thursday Jukebox bingo has
been drawing in a crowd as
well.
The Morris Park Inn is on
Facebook and Instagram for
patrons to see the latest specials
and events.
BY KYLE VUILLE
Commuting to Manhattan
from the East Bronx will be
easier and cheaper than ever as
the dream of a Throggs Neck/
Ferry Point ferry service takes
shape, with construction expected
to begin in 2021.
Representatives from the
Mayor’s Offi ce of Environmental
Coordination, NYC Economic
Development Corp, and
AKRF, an environmental impact
study company, outlined
the study’s fi ndings to the public
last Tuesday night at Villa
Barone Manor and received
feedback from the attendees
as part of their four-stop tour
to review the ferry expansion
plan across the city.
There are currently seven
active ferry routes operating
in NYC with 21 landings spanning
from Rockaway in Queens
to Soundview in the Bronx. The
Soundview landing started ferrying
customers in 2018 and
has seen ridership far above
what projections forecasted.
The plan is to install a 34-
foot by 90-foot ferry barge capable
of holding up to 350 people,
running from Wall Street
to East 34th Street to East 90th
Street to Soundview and fi nally
to Throggs Neck in under 30
minutes. The fare would match
the standard $2.75 subway fare.
The landing’s location
would be in Ferry Point Park,
a strip of land just west of the
Hutchinson River Parkway ,
that looks out on the East River
with views of the city.
While the proposed expansion
plan still has many hurdles
to clear before construction
can commence, the panel
Tuesday night revealed their
fi ndings through the draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS). There
are 20 different areas of study
under the City Environmental
Quality Review, but the three
discussed at the meeting were
Open Space, Urban Design and
Visual Resources and Transportation.
The conclusions of the three
categorized studies found that
the operation of a ferry at Ferry
Point Park would have no adverse
effects to the park’s attributes
and operations.
The meeting also examined
the improvements the existing
parking lot would get to accommodate
rider parking. The
parking lot is currently riddled
with bad potholes.
The EDC’s plan is to run a
shuttle from the parking lot to
the boat slip.
Members of the audience,
including Councilman Mark
Gjonaj, were concerned how
those without cars would be
able to fi nd their way to the
ferry boat.
“You’re relying solely on
vehicles driving to the ferry,
there is very little ability based
on the area for foot traffi c to
walk to the ferry,” Gjonaj said.
Currently, the two closest
buses to Ferry Point Park are
the Q50 and Q44 (SBS), which
would still leave riders with a
lengthy walk.
One attendee, Michael
Kaess, spoke up about creating
safe cycling paths to Ferry
Point. He suggested that the
EDC speak with the Parks Department
about a biking/walking
path running from Harding
Avenue to Ferry Point that
would run through Trump
Links golf course and a portion
of Ferry Point Park.
Written comments on the
Draft Supplement Environmental
Impact Statement may
Map of the planned ferry expansion throughout the boroughs.
NYC EDC
be submitted until 5 p.m. on
March 16, 2020 and may be submitted
at the public hearings,
by email, or by regular mail to:
Mayor’s Offi ce of Environmental
Coordination, Attn: Denise
Pisani, Deputy Director,
253 Broadway, 14th Floor, New
York, N.Y. 10007, or dpisani@
cityhall.nyc.gov
Customer Nicky Ace (l) and bartender Mala Reignz. Photo Schneps Media/Kyle Vuille
/cityhall.nyc.gov