Goodbye for Now, O’Murphy’s

The lights on the brightest shamrock in Montauk went out on Saturday when Jan and Chester Kordasz closed the doors to O’Murphy’s for the last time. Their lease has expired, and though the building’s owner, Jerry Passaretti, offered to renew it, it was at a cost of thousands of dollars more than they have been paying for the last 10 years.

“We’re absolutely heartbroken,” said Ms. Kordasz from the pub-like restaurant and bar, which is decorated with children’s crayon drawings, Tiffany-style lamps, and a sign hanging over the bar: “Enter a stranger, Leave a friend.”

The couple have received phone calls from customers all over the U.S. expressing disbelief that they’re closing, Mr. Kordasz said. “We were a family place. Kids, couples, and tourists loved coming in here.”

Up until August, the Kordaszes thought the lease would be renewed, but by Thanksgiving, Ms. Kordasz said, she had a feeling when talking to the landlord that something wasn’t quite right.

“He’s taking away our livelihood. There’s no more casual dining, no family places, once we close. Montauk is changing; it’s all about the money now,” she said.

Some employees have been working for the couple as long as they’ve been there. They gathered last week in front of the building, all of them saddened by the abrupt loss of their jobs. “We thought we had a future here,” said one.

Reached by phone on Monday, Mr. Passaretti said that when O’Murphy’s lease was up in 2012 he renewed it for another three years. When it was time to renew this year, he didn’t think the couple was interested, he said, so he started marketing the business. A substantial offer was made, and he told the Kordaszes that if they matched it they could stay.

“They were given every opportunity to stay but felt it was exorbitant,” said Mr. Passaretti. The Kordaszes, he said, were the best tenants a landlord could ask for. “I’m sorry to see them go,” he said.

It became a community effort over the weekend to move the couple out. Most of the lighting fixtures, a decorative stained glass fixture that hung behind the bar, and all the tables, stools, and other items belong to them. Everything was put in storage until they can find a new place of business.

They are looking at a few other restaurants in the hamlet and hope to reopen by the start of the season in June, if not sooner. And then, the large green shamrock will be lit once again, to let people know where they are.