Montauk institution Gosman's Dock has been sold, source says

Gosman's Dock, a Montauk institution for more than eight decades, has been sold, according to a person familiar with the sale, as two members of the Gosman family who pleaded guilty in a decade-long commercial fishing probe are due back in federal court for sentencing in two weeks.

A person familiar with the deal confirmed the sale closed earlier this month. Terms of the deal were not available, and calls to Gosman family members were not returned.

Gosman's Dock, which has been on the market for years, most recently in 2023, was listed with a $45 million selling price. The Gosman family owned nine separate parcels in the 11.6-acre waterfront Montauk portfolio, including a 477-seat restaurant, six retail shops, the wholesale and retail fish business, housing for seasonal staff and a part of a 330-car parking lot.

In a Newsday story in July, general manager Robert Gosman Jr. took note of the changing Montauk scene. "The traffic has definitely gotten worse, and the demographic is changing — it’s just too expensive out here for most families," he told Newsday.

The sale comes as Bryan and Asa Gosman, who each pleaded guilty in 2021 to a single federal charge of criminal conspiracy in the fishing probe and cooperated with prosecutors, are to appear Nov. 12 before Judge Joan Azrack in federal court in Central Islip for a sentencing and restitution hearing, according to court papers.

Both Gosmans offered testimony in a federal case that resulted in 30-month prison sentence for Christopher Winkler, a veteran commercial fisherman from Montauk who was found guilty of five counts after a trial in Central Islip federal court last year. Winkler was charged in connection with a scheme to illegally harvest 200,000 pounds of fluke and black sea bass over federal limits in a case that involved the Gosman's wholesale business as purchaser of the fish and Bryan Gosman as an alleged lookout, prosecutors said at trial. The fish were valued at more than $900,000 and prosecutors are seeking restitution of at least $725,000.

"Because there is a possibility that Winkler may be held jointly and severally liable with Asa Gosman and Bryan Gosman, the court will make its final determination concerning Winkler in conjunction with the Gosmans' sentencing hearings" next month, the papers said.

The Gosmans are managers of the family-owned Bob Gosman Co. Inc., an entity that in 2021 pleaded guilty to two counts of Lacey Act Fish Trafficking violations in the case and received four years' probation and a $50,000 fine, according to court records. Neither the Gosmans nor their lawyers returned messages seeking comment. Brian McCarthy, a lawyer for the company in the criminal case, declined to comment.

Richard Levitt, Winkler’s defense lawyer in the case, charged during the closing statements in Winkler's trial that the Gosmans and their business received relative slaps on the wrist for their role in the fishing case. Neither Gosman is expected to receive prison time. Winkler and the Gosmans had been longtime friends. Winkler is due to surrender for his prison sentence next month, his lawyer Peter Smith said.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.