There's a storefront going into 180 Boardwalk, near Riverside Boulevard, that's about to become the largest single space this stretch of sand has seen in years. It's roughly 5,800 square feet, close to the footprint of a small supermarket, dropped onto a strip that has spent decades limited to burger windows and ice cream counters. The tenant moving in there says more about where the boardwalk is headed this summer than any single restaurant opening could.
That space is set to anchor a new retail development the city has been calling the Superblock, and its future tenant, Tulum Tacos & Tequila, applied for a New York State Liquor Authority permit to serve alcohol on a stretch of boardwalk that has never allowed it. That application went in before the city had even voted on whether to change the rule. It's the most interesting fact on the boardwalk right now, and it's the one most people walk past without noticing.
A ban that survived one vote already
The current rule dates back further than most residents think about day to day. Boardwalk businesses have been allowed to sell only non-alcoholic beverages, and the city has kept both a citywide cap on the number of bars and a moratorium on new bar permits in place, aimed at heading off noise and vandalism complaints. The last serious push to loosen any of it was shot down in 2017.
In April 2026, it came back to the city council, this time with real momentum. As ABC7 New York reported, council members debated ordinance changes that would let licensed businesses sell alcohol on the boardwalk and would lift the moratorium on new bar permits, while keeping the existing ban on drinking on the sand itself in place. City Council President Brendan Finn made the comparison plainly:
"To our west, Rockaway has many successful bar restaurants right there on the boardwalk, concession stands, and to our east, Jones Beach has a great bar and restaurant as well. Why is Long Beach left out of that?"
Not every resident agreed the timing was right. Susan Hoffman told ABC7 she thought the city needed to "be careful for safety reasons," while Ray Miley took the opposite view, saying it was "probably a good idea because business will prosper up here." Both comments came from the same public hearing, which is a decent snapshot of how split the room actually was.
One boardwalk business has already been operating under an exception for years. Bright Eye Brewery on Park Avenue got around the existing restrictions by securing zoning board approval on its own, which is the kind of workaround that only makes sense if the underlying rule is genuinely restrictive. It's proof the demand for a boardwalk beer has been there for a while. The rule just hadn't caught up.
Two liquor license applications got there first
Here's the detail that turns this from a policy story into a real one. According to reporting from Hoodline in April 2026, both Tulum Tacos & Tequila and an existing boardwalk stand called Riptides 11561 had already applied to the State Liquor Authority for on-premises permits before the council took up the vote. Riptides isn't a new entrant either. City concession paperwork shows the business operating out of its Edwards Boulevard boardwalk storefront under a lease filed back in January 2025, which means an already-established stand decided the rule was worth betting on more than a year before the council debate happened.
That's two separate businesses, one brand new and one already running, both willing to put money and paperwork behind a rule change that hadn't passed yet. Whatever the council ultimately decides, the fact that the applications came first tells you the boardwalk's businesses were reading the room faster than the boardwalk's own government.
What's already slinging food and gear on the boards
Before any of this shakes out, it's worth knowing what's already anchoring the boardwalk today. Local reporting on the boardwalk's expansion plans counted five concession stands and kiosks currently operating along the boards:
| Business | Location | What it's known for |
|---|---|---|
| Beach Burger | Grand Boulevard | Burgers and boardwalk classics |
| Marvel | National Boulevard | Ice cream |
| Riptides | Edwards Boulevard | Food and drink, now seeking a liquor license |
| Shakes & Shuckers | Lincoln Boulevard | Shakes and raw bar |
| Skudin Surf | Riverside Boulevard | Surf lessons and gear, not food |
Compare any one of those footprints to the 5,800 square feet coming to 180 Boardwalk and the scale of what's arriving becomes obvious. This isn't another kiosk joining the row. It's a different category of business altogether.
The grant that turns talk into fencing
None of this expansion is happening on hope alone, and the money behind it predates this year's headlines. Back in January 2025, the city was awarded $1.45 million through New York's Pro-Housing Communities initiative, earmarked specifically for boardwalk improvements, as the Long Island Herald reported at the time. The plan on the table was one or two new concession buildings and three extensions to the boardwalk itself, intended for shaded seating, booths where local artists could display and sell work, new public restrooms, and event space.
At the time, Councilman Mike Reinhart framed it as a conversation, not a done deal, saying the city wanted to "keep Long Beach Long Beach" as it worked through resident input, and Finn called the boardwalk "the heart of our city" in the same announcement. That was over a year ago. The Superblock lease and this spring's ordinance debate are the first real evidence that the conversation from January 2025 is turning into something built.
Even the basic measurements aren't fully settled. The Long Beach Chamber's own city guide puts the boardwalk at 2.1 miles, while the Herald's reporting on the extension project describes it as 2.5 miles. Small as that gap is, it's a fair reflection of a boardwalk that's currently being redefined in more ways than one, down to the number that's supposed to describe it.
The boardwalk's businesses have always turned over
None of this churn is actually new for this stretch of sand. Long-time residents who remember the boardwalk from decades back will recall Arnold Gutin's Hebrew National restaurant and deli near the west end and Bob's Pizza a few doors down, back when frozen custard and ices from Kalin's rounded out a summer afternoon. The names have changed more than once since then. What hasn't changed is that whoever holds a given spot on the boardwalk gets to define what a walk down it feels like for a while, until the next name goes up.
One date that's locked in either way
Whatever the council decides about alcohol, and whatever shape the state-funded extensions eventually take, one thing on the calendar isn't waiting on any of it. The Long Beach Historical Society's Arts and Crafts Fair is set for August 29 and 30, staged on Riverside Boulevard and the boardwalk, running 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. It'll fill the same stretch of boards that food stands have occupied since the 1950s with tents, artwork, and handmade goods, regardless of how the ordinance vote lands.
That's the real shape of a summer like this one. The rules are moving, the money is moving, and the tenants are moving faster than either. But the boardwalk itself keeps doing what it's always done, which is hosting whoever shows up next and letting residents decide for themselves whether the new version is an improvement.
If you've been watching this stretch of Long Beach change and you're curious what any of it means for the value of a home nearby or the right time to make a move, that's a conversation worth having directly. Let's Connect with Santillo Realty whenever you're ready.
