Monday, October 19, 2015

Roosevelt Island Trellis Diner Hopes To Re -Open In January 2016 Says Owner And Starts A $50 Thousand Community Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign

 Rendering Of New Trellis When Open From Kickstarter

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by Roosevelt Island residents is when will the Trellis Diner complete their renovations, which began in September 2014, and re-open?

 Image Of Trellis Construction Fence & New Exterior Top

Trellis Diner owner Alex Razaghi sends in this update today:
Just an update in regards to Trellis, we are getting a lot of work done and will hopefully get the restaurant up and running soon. A rough estimate would be around January.
Trellis has started a Kickstarter campaign thru December 8 to raise $50 Thousand.



Mr. Razaghi writes on Kickstarter:
Along with every venture in life, the threat of risks and challenges is always present. However nothing is impossible to those that dare. In attempting to see our dream come to fruition we did indeed dare. This project was not taken lightly. Countless hours of research and hard work have gone into preparing for this endeavor. After 17 years of running a successful business, we decided that the 50 year old establishment did not live up to the standards we strive to offer our customers. So we closed down September 9th 2014 to start our project.

We almost immediately started to run into problems. However due to our preparation we quickly resolved issues as they arrived. Until the most profound issue arrived, a stop works order. The order was due to a structural weight bearing wall that was previously not found in the original blueprints. Having encountered the wall we had to wait on multiple entities for approval, until ultimately we were forced to change the blueprints to accommodate the wall and rearrange the interior layout of the store. This new layout also required approval.

In total the issue postponed work on the restaurant by well over 6 months. The suspension of work led to other issues. Contractor prices rose, we had to continue paying premium rent, and personal expenses added up. Through all the issues our resolve remains, if anything it has been strengthened. We feel that this is not only our chance to give back to the community but also a chance to be a part of its history. We have been fortunate enough to be provided with the unique ability to grow with our community, with all the recent changes and future developments coming in the near future, we want to do our part. We would like to extend the opportunity to our neighbors as well as investors to join in, and contribute to the future of Roosevelt Island through us.

Although we have set the goal at $50,000 we have hopes of achieving our real goal of $250,000. With that kind of pledge we would be able to finish the project within two months of receiving the funds. Regardless of the outcome I would like to thank everyone for simply taking the time to visit this page. I hope you have enjoyed our vision of the future Trellis on Roosevelt Island.
Click here to back the Trellis Kickstarter campaign, choose your reward and for more information.

A look inside the Trellis construction fence.


Did you know that one of the Kickstarter founders, Perry Chen, grew up on Roosevelt Island?

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