9
MAY 26, 2019, BROOKLYN WEEKLY
CREAM OF THE CROP: Tony Fongyit faces losing the longtime Flatbush Avenue
storefront of his vegan ice cream parlor, but local fans have rallied to support
him. Photo by Dale Charles
2019 * plus tax and season pass.
BY COLIN MIXSON
The owner of a Prospect Lefferts
Gardens vegan ice cream parlor
may not get booted from his
Flatbush Avenue storefront of 34
years, after more than 1,400 fans
of the eatery’s non-dairy delicacies
signed a petition demanding
the restaurant be allowed to stay.
“We cannot lose the place that
introduced us to cleaner eating
and educating us on who we are as
a people,” wrote one woman, who
signed the petition as Saronda G.
Landlord Lawrence Bernstein
made contact with Scoops and
Plates Eatery Owner Tony Fongyit
on May 21 after previously ghosting
his tenant for months, and then
demanding he pack up and leave
earlier this month, and the property
owner confi rmed via email
that he’s now willing to negotiate a
lease extension.
“Agents for the owners have
reached out to... the tenant to have
discussions regarding a possible
lease renewal,” Bernstein wrote.
Fongyit, who opened Scoops
and Plates Eatery in 1985, had
been struggling to get in contact
with Bernstein — who purchased
the property near Chester Court
where Scoops is located in 2015 —
after his long-term lease expired
in November.
Since then, the eco-friendly
ice cream purveyor says he’s
paid his rent faithfully, while
claiming Bernstein has deliberately
ignored his repeated petitions
to renew their agreement.
The matter turned desperate earlier
this month, when Fongyit received
notice that his landlord
wanted him out within 30 days,
giving him until June 1 to pack up
and leave — and still without any
explanation why he was getting
the boot.
“I just want a reason,” said
Fongyit earlier this week. “It’s
very disrespectful. I’m hurting
from my head to my toes right
now.”
In a last chance bid to keep his
longtime storefront, the restaurateur
enlisted the aid of both the
Parkside Empire Flatbush Avenue
Merchants Association and nonprofi
t advocacy group Impacct
Brooklyn, which dispatched lawyers
demanding Bernstein give
his tenant a fair shake, according
to one Impacct member.
“If it’s a rent increase let him
know to see if he can afford it, but
he’s giving him no reason after 34
years,” said Dale Charles, director
of economic development and
commercial leasing at Impacct
Brooklyn. “I know they don’t have
to give a reason, but that’s not
good enough.”
The Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Neighborhood Association joined
the fi ght to save Scoops by creating
the petition that quickly generated
hundreds of signatures
from longtime fans of the eatery,
many of whom can’t remember a
time without Fongyit’s dairy-free
creams.
“I’ve been going to Scoops all
my life for ice cream,” wrote Kareem
B. “It’s also one of the best
places to get my favorite vegan
food.”
Charles cautioned that, while
the email that both she and
Fongyit got from Bernstein Tuesday
was the most contact either of
them have had with the landlord
— ever — that it’s still too early
to celebrate, and the pair haven’t
received any written commitment
from the landlord to call off the
vacate order.
“I’m happy, I’m excited, but I’m
still on hold until I can get something
in writing,” she said.
Second chance for Scoops
Community petitions to keep vegan ice cream shop in PLG