![]() Earl Strickland, considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time, was the in-house pro from 2011 to 2018, offering lessons and drawing crowds as he drained one shot after another in his afternoon practice sessions. The neighborhood staple has hosted the likes of Efren Reyes, Shane Van Boening and Ronnie O’Sullivan - who, by various measures, currently rank among the sport’s best. According to Mennis, it’s the only pool hall in New York certified to hold tournaments by the Billiards Congress of America - one of the sport’s major governing bodies. Over the decades, Steinway Cafe-Billiards has attracted top talents to this mostly industrial block in western Queens. “But we’re assuming that the moment that the permits are issued, then maybe we have three months.” Local Legend “We haven’t been told when, and how long they’re gonna give us” to vacate, 37-year-old manager Athena Mennis, who has worked at the pool hall for 22 years, told THE CITY. In the meantime, commercial tenants like Steinway Cafe-Billiards, who occupy spaces where landlords have made purchase option agreements with entities under the development’s consortium of developers - Silverstein Properties, BedRock Real Estate Partners and Kaufman Astoria Studio - are stuck in limbo. Members and sponsors make THE CITY possible. All eyes are now on the neighborhood’s Councilmember, Julie Won - who has so far opposed the plan she says doesn’t provide sufficiently affordable housing - as the council tradition of “member deference” generally means the local member has an effective veto on land use projects in their district. If and when that would happen depends on an imminent City Council vote. Looming over this one-story neighborhood mainstay, along with that court battle, is Innovation QNS - a $2 billion mixed-use, five-block development plan envisioning 2,845 apartments and 200,000 square feet of commercial space and - including a glass tower rising from the land that the pool hall sits on now. These days, the pool hall is open and surviving month to month as a rent dispute case pends in court. And when the city ordered all non-essential operations to halt at the peak of the pandemic in March of 2020, Nikolakakos struggled to make rent. ![]() “We had the idea to open a place with windows on the street level so people can see inside and women can come in,” said Nikolakakos, who worked as a waiter and taxi driver before opening Steinway Cafe-Billiards.īusiness boomed, Nikolakakos recalled, even before it was supposed to officially open, as strangers kept looking in and he simply opened the doors and let them play.īut after the city banned indoor smoking in 2003, traffic got slower. Large street-level windows peer into a room of 26 pool tables, unusual visibility for a pool hall that opened in 1990, when most others were in basements or up a flight of stairs, according to 67-year-old owner Georgios Nikolakakos. The tour would like to thank our Sponsors! A special thanks to Jerry Tarantola, Alison Fischer & Henry Chan of for all their hard work for the tour and pool.Īlso the tour would like to thank Rob Omen of Pool On the Net & Ron Mason of for all they do for the tour.A green awning stands out among an inconspicuous strip of car body shops in Astoria: “STEINWAY CAFE-BILLIARDS,” it reads, namesake of the bustling commercial street that anchors the neighborhood. Please contact Tony or Finnegan BEFORE the finale to confirm your handicap for the tournament. If not, you will have to pay DOUBLE to play in the event. This season, you must have played in (5) five events to pay the regular entry fee for the finale. Tony can be reached by email at or by phone at (917) 202-2750. ![]() If at any point the tour feels a player has intentionally been dishonest about their handicap level or deceived the tour in any way, the tour reserves the right to kick the player out of the tournament and will NOT refund the entry fee or registration. ![]() Verification from another Tour Director or League Operator. ![]() Current Tour Card Listing Handicap for another Tour.Verifiable proof includes but isn't limited to: Remember, anyone is allowed to play in the Open/Pro event on Sundays. There is no guarantee you will be allowed to play so again we recommend contacting Tony or Finnegan BEFORE the tournament. The ABCD MAJOR Tournaments of the Season:įor Regular ABCD tournaments, any player that is unable to provide proof of a current handicap will either not be allow to play in the ABCD event or will be placed at the handicap of the tournament director's discretion upon arrival. ![]()
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