When Anthony Mazzarella opened his restaurant, The Waterfront Crabhouse, he knew the hundred year old building was something more significant than just a piece of real estate. In the late 1800's -early 1900's it was the social center of what was then a flourishing town as well as a favorite watering spot of New York's theatrical, political and sporting elite. "Tony Miller's Hotel" named after its proprietor, was constructed as a three story building in 1881 and for the next 25 years anybody who was anybody important appeared there.

This old landmark was patronized by men who have held cabinet offices under our presidents, political leaders like Richard Croder, multimillionaires like Russell Sage, naval officers of high degree, sportsmen and others of international and national reputation such as Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland (coming off the 34th street ferry). Usually 50,000 thousand people made the trip each day. some were probably commuters, others were headed out of summer homes on the island or to the Vanderbilt Cup races in Hempstead.

Many would make a detour by way of Tony Miller's bar. By the 1800's Borden Ave. was a bustling commercial and residential street with horse-drawn trolleys clattering down to the car barn next to the hotel. It was also the official hangout of Long Island City's colorful mayor, Patrick "Battle Ax" Gleason who earned his nickname in 1888, when LIRR constructed a fence on Front St (now 2nd St.) blocking the way so that the public could not pass without buying a railroad ticket.

To put things right, Gleason and some followers armed with axes, one night chopped the fence and sheds into pieces, to the cheers of Irish immigrants watching from tenement windows. Gleason's victory over the railroad was in a sense a temporary one.

In 1910 the LIRR built tunnels through to Penn Central station, allowing passengers to bypass the Ferry and Borden Ave altogether. This and the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909 eventually doomed Long Island City.

In 1916 Millers Hotel shut its doors for good. The building that was once Millers Hotel was used as a warehouse from the 1920's on and briefly housed a hotel after WW II .

By the 1970's the increasing costs of staying in NY and a sluggish economy drove out many of the manufacturers leaving behind a tight-knit predominantly Italian community to cope amidst shrinking cith services.

In 1978 Anthony Mazzarella rebuilt the interior and opened his restaurant. Today the restaurant is again attracting patrons from all over the city including its share of celebrities. Customers now dine on an array of seafood and meat dishes, enjoy live music nightly including bands on Friday and Saturday nights and the best Dixi-Land Jazz band NY has to offer, on Sunday nights.
The success of this business may be the bellwether of a revitalization of Long Island City, bringing back some of the glory of the days when Paddy Gleason and company presided at Millers Hotel.

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