Cool Mess, an incoming children’s party venue that equips guests to make their own ice cream, was granted final approval by the Roslyn Village Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
The store will open within the next six months at the shopping center on Old Northern Boulevard near the intersection with Bryant Avenue, said Nicholas Cyprus, one of the company’s owners.
“It’s great,” Cyprus said of the approval. “I grew up in Manhasset, and Roslyn was part of my childhood. It’s a great neighborhood for children.”
In addition to putting on children’s parties, the 2,800-square-foot venue will operate a counter-style pick-up restaurant where patrons can get finger foods like chicken tenders and hamburgers, said Peter MacKinnon, an attorney representing the company.
The anticipated frying of such foods raised questions during Tuesday’s approval hearing, as Trustee Craig Westergard pointed out that nearby residents may smell the smoke emitted by such cooking.
“Nearby houses are on the level of the roof of these buildings,” Westergard said. “Exhaust goes through the roof and up into that area. Residents have been sensitive to cooking there.”
MacKinnon said the venue would be primarily used for the children’s ice cream parties.
Mayor John Durkin asked Building Inspector Richard Belziti whether the exhaust could be screened from the nearby homes.
“Yes,” Belziti said. “Whatever exhaust is in there, they’re going to have a buffer.”
Trustee Marshall E. Bernstein then offered a motion for conditional approval.
“We approve this application subject to appropriate buffering for smoke,” Bernstein said.
The motion received unanimous approval. Trustee Sarah Oral was not present.
Cool Mess put in its initial application with the Roslyn Building Department six months ago, and received variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals, said Morgan Fischer, a representative of the company’s ownership.
“The village process was tough but fair,” Fischer added.
Cool Mess will combine two formerly separate retail properties at 1512 and 1514 Old Northern Boulevard.
One of the properties was vacated by the nail salon Red Hots, while the other had been a podiatrist’s office, Fischer said.
In addition to Cyprus, the company’s owners are Dmitri Dellis and Marguerite Lucas.
Cool Mess currently operates a store in Manhattan at the corner of 62nd Street and Lexington Avenue, which has operated for a little more than a year, Cyprus said.
