Wedding dreams are turning into nightmares at a scenic Queens party venue that’s mired in debt and disarray — with couples fearing their receptions will be canceled and their deposits lost.
Terrified brides have been burning up the phones at the Water’s Edge restaurant in Long Island City with expletive-laced tirades, said one manager who spoke to The Post Wednesday.
“Yesterday, one of the ladies called and started cursing at me, ‘F–k you, you piece of s–t,’ he said. “I said, ‘I’ve only been working here for six weeks. I’ll help you in any way I can,’ ” he recalled.
Harendra Singh, owner of Water’s EdgeDavid L. Pokress/Newsday“She was like, ‘ . . . If you f–k up my wedding and I don’t get what I paid for, for myself and my guests, I’ll cut your b–ls off!”
Owner Harendra Singh, 56 — whose shrinking Long Island and Queens eatery empire once included as many as 30 restaurants, catering companies and concessions — has been under house arrest in his sprawling, $3 million Laurel Hollow, LI, home since earlier this month, when the feds hit him with a massive indictment alleging tens of millions of dollars in bribery, fraud and tax evasion.
Since his arrest, Water’s Edge workers have had to wait as long as a month for paychecks, and garbage is piling up because the hauler hasn’t been paid, said the manager, who said he plans on quitting soon and asked that he not be identified by name. “I would be worried, too,” he said of couples’ pre-wedding jitters.
Weddings are still being held, at $100 a plate or more, at the restaurant, the manager stressed.
“We have three weddings this weekend, three weddings next weekend,” he said.
Still, “A lot of people aren’t getting paid,” he said of the staff. “They’re getting paid on and off. He owes money to a lot of people.”
Added another staffer, “I don’t know when my next paycheck is coming, if it’s ever coming . . . It has become very much day-to-day.”
Singh’s federal indictment alleges he scammed $950,000 from FEMA by inflating claims for Hurricane Sandy damage, paid $7 million in employee wages under the table, underreported his taxes by another $10 million and bribed a town official in Oyster Bay, LI, to sign off on $20 million in loans.
Singh is additionally fighting an eviction proceeding brought by the city, which owns the land on which the restaurant sits.
He’s battling two IRS liens totaling $2.4 million, records also show.
Additional reporting by Selim Algar
