Fire Island Pines gets $17M makeover

The Fire Island Pines is undergoing a glow-up, as billionaire tech entrepreneur Tristan Schukraft’s team puts it. Parts of his $17 million makeover of most of the community’s commercial district, which he’s calling The Waterfront at The Pines, will be open by Memorial Day, says Schukraft, 46, who is playfully known in the media as the "CEO of Everything Gay."

"I’m preserving the Pines because I think it’s a cultural institution for the gay community," says Schukraft, who owns LGBTQ+ bars and nightclubs and is rapidly expanding his luxury gay hotel brand.

THE POOL

What Schukraft says he noticed immediately about The Pines is that "there's nobody ever" at the pool. He says his plan is to turn the once-celebrated bathing area back into the "heartbeat" of The Pines. This season, expect all-day food service, parties and DJs, he says. The pool and pool deck are scheduled to be upgraded by summer 2026, according to Schukraft.

"It was always packed," Schukraft says. "So that's one thing that I'll really be focused on, is bringing that life and energy back to the pool ... You're going to meet like-minded people ... People become friends, and then they go out to the other bars and hang out all weekend."

THE CANTEEN

The Canteen, the eatery next to the Pavilion nightclub, will "see the most improvements this year," Schukraft says. Patrons should look forward to a new menu, extended hours, fresh furniture, refreshed bathrooms and the addition of air conditioning, he says. Minor cosmetic changes like new awnings will "keep the look" folks love, he adds.

"The food was frozen, fried food, not very good, limited menu, limited hours," says Schukraft. "So I come out of the Pavilion at 4 in the morning. I'm starving, right? And I don't cook ... and there's no way to eat." Now, the eatery will be open until 5:30 a.m. to allow clubgoers to grab a pizza and other grub after a night out, he says. "The food is going to be fresh fare," he says. And, he adds, there will be smoothies.

THE HOTEL

The hotel remake, on the site of the condemned, cinder-block Botel, is a "constantly moving target," he says. It will be open sometime this season as Tryst Fire Island, says Schukraft, who opened a hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in April with a star-studded party. The Fire Island opening is being delayed by the delivery of materials, such as soundproofed, weatherproofed interior doors being imported from Belgium, he says. Once complete, the Tryst will be a five-star hotel, he says, with king-size beds and en suite bathrooms. "I always believe that you can have a really nice space," he says. "It doesn't cost that much more to put [in] a nice fixture or improved lighting or tile or bedding."

"It will be brand new from top to bottom, he says. "It would be a lot easier and cheaper to just close it down for a season and build solid for a year. But that's obviously not possible. It would ruin a lot of people's summer vacations." There will be 30 en suite rooms, down from 36 with shared bathrooms, with a rate starting in the “$200s," he says.

THE BLUE WHALE

The Blue Whale restaurant, next to the hotel, will undergo a two-part improvement, says Schukraft. This summer, Schukraft says he is bringing in a drag brunch. Otherwise, his team says, it will continue to operate with signature events such as low tea and show tunes. The dance floor, with its historic mosaic of a whale, will remain, Schukraft says. The plan for next summer, which is still in the design phase, is to add a second story, he says.

"Everybody said, I wish the Blue Whale had the second floor on it so you can watch sunsets and have cocktails," says Schukraft.

THE PAVILION

High tea will come to the Pavilion nightclub this summer, Schukraft says, with a rotation of DJs, drag queens and entertainers, some from other Tryst Hospitality properties. Larger changes are in the works for next year, he says.

"Right now, if you go up to the upper deck of the Pavilion, it looks abandoned," he says. "It really isn’t. I mean, there's a bar out there, but they never utilize it. There's no nice furniture out there. It just looks terrible. So we're putting in nicer furniture and sprucing the place up, and then bringing back High Tea from 7 to 10 p.m. More plans are in the works for summer 2026, he says, including a "completely new Pavilion." Schukraft says he will address plumbing problems and the position of the bar in the middle of the dance floor. "I mean, there's just so many things where it doesn't work from an operational perspective," he says.

THE GYM

The gym will see improvements as well, says Schukraft.

"The plan is to get all new equipment," says Schukraft, whose team adds that the gym will be reimagined next year as part of the Pavilion redo. The gym is partly inside the Pavilion, they say.

WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS SAYING

Even though the area currently looks like a "construction site," Bob Howard, 83, who considers himself a kind of "grandfather" in the Pines, says he’s hopeful about the redevelopment.

"I’ve seen a lot of changes," says Howard, who has worked in Pines real estate for five decades and says he ran the Pavilion for two years in the late ’80s. "Each one of these eager young men come in to renovate the downtown, to do all these things. And now we've got someone who I believe has a great vision and the bucks to make it happen."

Manhattan interior designer Drew McGukin, 47, who has owned a home in The Pines since 2014, describes the changes as "exciting."

"I think the Pines has been ripe for an infusion of energy for a long, long time," he says. "I mean, it's just an aging community." Like about 10 other homeowners in the community, McGukin and his partner recently knocked down their house and completely rebuilt it. "I think the energy around the whole island, whether it’s the commercial stuff that Tristan is pushing forward or its individual homeowners deciding to take it to the next level — it's just having a little renaissance and a resurgence at the moment."