Luxe NYC venue hijacks public plaza under iconic bridge to rake in up to $300K a pop using shocking enforcers: suit

A fancy event venue under the Queensboro Bridge has illegally claimed a public city plaza as its own for the past decade while charging customers up to $300,000 a pop to rent it, a new lawsuit alleges.The Manhattan operators of Guastavino’s have even been aided in their illicit ruse thanks to a reputed shady set-up with the local police precinct, court documents claim.“This case is about the brazen and illegal seizure of public space by a high-end private event company and a commercial real estate developer who, on a daily or near-daily basis, evict the general public from a public plaza in Midtown Manhattan,” alleges the class-action suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last week.“Plaintiffs bring this case to return this small garden to public use and to right the wrongs that Defendants have caused by their illegal actions.”Guastavino’s told amNY that it “acknowledges that this is a public plaza’’ and that it is working with the city to “come up with a path forward.” The venue did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment Sunday.According to the lawsuit, the city-owned plaza — part of a massive parcel first purchased in 1900 for the construction of the iconic bridge — was meant to be “a sitting area accessible to the public.”But the venue’s bosses decided they’d rather act like they owned the place, the suit says.They illegally blocked out taxpayers with fake signs and security guards while hawking it for posh weddings and galas, according to the filing.The lawsuit, also brought by a Brooklyn mentalist, a Manhattan grad and a veterinary technician, demands a judge formally declare the plaza public land and force the venue to hand over its ill-gotten gains.A plaintiff in the suit, Sean Basinski, said Guastavino’s security forced him off the property when he attempted to use it as a workout space during the COVID-19 lockdowns.In 2023, he was escorted off the property again, with workers claiming the public plaza was �...