Here’s who owns the liquor license at Beach Gallery, and here’s who owns the building:
KEANSBURG, NJ — The permanently closed Beach Gallery bar/restaurant in Keansburg remains under a state investigation by the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).
It came to light last week that three men who managed the bar previously pleaded guilty to sex crimes against children; one case involved boys as young as 12. Those three men are Beach Gallery’s director of operations John Schulte, general manager Michael Palacios and Derick Jerinsky.
All three were previously convicted of sex crimes against minors, and did prison time, according to court records.
The town of Keansburg shut down Beach Gallery on Sept. 30. The ABC launched its investigation around that same time.
The liquor license for Beach Gallery is owned by Janna Epstein-Jerinsky, the bar’s owner and wife of Derick Jerinsky. She told NJ101.5 last week her husband was not involved in running the business, but a former Beach Gallery waitress said he was often on site, and that he told bar staff he was the owner.
Also, Jerinsky is listed as the registered agent for an LLC application he and his wife filed with the state to open Beach Gallery; she is listed as a manager. In that application, the husband-wife said the restaurant would be called The Brunch Gallery and said: “brunch, rooftop bar, events and local art merge at our restaurant, creating a delightful experience in one captivating space.”
“Under New Jersey Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, persons convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude are unable to have any interest in or BE EMPLOYED BY AN A.B.C. LICENSEE,” ABC regulations state here on page 28. “Generally, crimes involving moral turpitude are those deemed serious by society.”
The website for the Beach Gallery has since been taken down. However, last week Beach Gallery said it was asked by the state to hire ex-convicts. They also said the state of New Jersey had to approve the hiring of all employees who were on probation/parole, and the bar also said it never asked about employees’ criminal records when hiring.
Beach Gallery said when it first opened it “was contacted by a state agency asking if we would be willing to hire individuals with criminal backgrounds, as the state was facing difficulty in placing them in employment,” the bar said. “We readily agreed to participate, not only because it aligns with our core mission but also because we believe in supporting the state’s efforts to reduce recidivism through employment.”
Beach Gallery never named that state agency.
Schulte, 49, is a registered Tier-2 repetitive compulsive sex offender, according to the NJ Sex Offender Registry database. He was convicted in 2005 on two counts of sex assault; prosecutors say he sexually assaulted three boys ages 12 – 13 in Union County.
Jerinsky, originally of Suffern, New York, pleaded guilty in 2011 to showing obscene material to a minor and child endangerment, and he served three years in prison, according to New Jersey court records. Jerinsky, 27 at the time, was a certified music teacher and he was volunteering as an assistant band instructor at Ramsey High School in Bergen County, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor and NBC New York. While working with the high school band, Jerinsky had sexual contact with one underage female student and showed obscene sexual images to other underage teenage girls, said the prosecutor. In 2012, this order from the NJ Department of Education shows his music teacher certificate was permanently revoked, and he is not allowed to hold public school employment in the state of New Jersey.
And in 2018, Palacios pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender, according to New Jersey court records. This photo of him on Mugshots.com showed he pleaded guilty to one count of sex assault against a victim ages 13-16.
1 percent of liquor license owned by Epstein-Jerinsky, 99 percent owned by Keansburg businessman Ritesh Shah
Epstein-Jerinsky owns 1 percent of the liquor license; the other 99 percent of the license is owned by RDS Bar and Restaurant, LLC, said Keansburg Mayor George Hoff. Epstein-Jerinsky opened and operated the bar under that 1 percent of the license she owned, he said. She paid a fee to RDS to use 1 percent of the license.
RDS Bar and Restaurant, LLC is owned by Ritesh Shah, who owns five pharmacies across Monmouth County (in Holmdel, Howell and elsewhere), including Drugsmart Pharmacy on Main Street in Keansburg.
In this 2018 article in the Two River Times, Shah is listed as one of the owners of the three-story building that housed Beach Gallery, at 260-262 Beachway Avenue. At that time, Shah said he planned to open the building as a waterfront restaurant overlooking Raritan Bay, to be called Pier 260 Rooftop Bar and Restaurant.
260 Beachway used to be Stadium bar, which burned down, and the new, three-story building was built in its place.
Shah also owns RDS Realty LLC in Keansburg. A legal record of sale shows RDS Realty LLC sold 260-262 Beachway Avenue to Cookman Enterprises of Asbury Park in March of this year. Mayor Hoff said it is a group of private individuals who continue to own the building at 260-262 Beachway.
Shah has also gotten into the marijuana business: He is a co-owner of Monmouth Wellness and Healing, LLC, which operates NJ Leaf retail cannabis dispensary at 546 Park Avenue in Freehold borough. Shah is also currently trying to open a marijuana dispensary on Rt. 36 in Keansburg. Shah also owns Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy in Red Bank, which serves the underinsured and uninsured. (Keansburg borough manager, who is the former Keansburg Police Chief, Raymond O’Hare sits on the board of Shah’s charitable pharmacy.)
Last week: Beach Gallery Bar Says State Asked Them To Hire Ex-Cons, Will Permanently Close (Oct. 2)
Keansburg Restaurant Steps Up To Host 2 Weddings After Beach Gallery Suddenly Closed (Oct. 3)