Five SLA applications from the operators of the $88M Jacob Riis Bathhouse concession tell a split story: summer food-and-beverage and outdoor-bar licenses got conditional approvals, but the primary for-profit club license was apparently denied and is now before the full Board on reconsideration.

Five separate entities tied to the Rockaway Ocean Club have filed with the State Liquor Authority for the right to pour at 157 Rockaway Beach Blvd in Rockaway Park — and the SLA's pending-license database, updated July 20, shows a split picture that sharpens the licensing question at the $88 million NPS concession targeting a soft open as early as August 7.

Three of the five applications are listed as conditionally approved. Rockaway Ocean Club Concessions LLC (NA-0371-26-101285) and Rockaway Ocean Club West LLC (NA-0371-26-101291) — both Class 371 summer food-and-beverage licenses — received their applications January 20 and carry "Conditionally Approved" status. Rockaway Ocean Club Rooftop LLC (NA-0341-26-101203), a Class 341 summer restaurant for the third-floor space, filed January 16 and is also conditionally approved. Those three cover the outdoor bars, boardwalk café, and concessions that operators Bathhouse Lodge LLC described publicly as the core of the 2026 preview season.

The fourth application, Rockaway Ocean Club Events LLC (NA-0417-26-101237, Class 417 cabaret), filed January 17, remains under review.

The fifth — and most consequential for the full members' club program — is Rockaway Ocean Clubhouse LLC (NA-0425-26-106868), a Class 425 for-profit club license filed April 9. Its status reads "Reconsideration," SLA shorthand for an application denied at the division level and now before the full Board of Commissioners for review. In SLA practice, a for-profit club license grants a private membership organization the right to sell alcohol to its members; it is the license type that would cover the heated outdoor pool, the poolside bars, and the private lounge described in the club's promotional materials.

"Conditionally approved" status at the SLA means the authority has approved in principle but requires the applicant to satisfy specific conditions before a license is issued — conditions that are not made public in the database. For a venue on federal NPS land within the Gateway National Recreation Area, where alcohol service has historically been prohibited, those conditions almost certainly include written authorization from the National Park Service.

None of the five applications appear on the SLA's active-license database as of July 20, meaning no license has been formally issued. The operators behind Bathhouse Lodge LLC — Belvy Klein, Aaron Brudo, and CMO Ursula Damani — have not responded publicly to the reconsideration of the club license. The club's own website lists its phone number as TBD.

An August 7 soft open for outdoor bar and café service is plausible if the conditions on the three approved summer licenses are cleared; the poolside members' program is a different question, pending the Board's reconsideration of the for-profit club application.