Studio Square's courtyard on a warm Sunday afternoon in August. Photo: Spencer Bailey

By Spencer Bailey

In mid-August, a Brooklynite friend of Amy Lynch, 22, from Westchester County, invited her to a party. But not just any party. This gathering of friends met at Studio Square, a new 30,000 square foot beer garden in Long Island City, which features row upon row of custom-made tables and scattered birch trees, all arranged in a cobblestone courtyard.

A couple of weeks later, Lynch sat with two friends, Alexis McLauchlan and Pauline Shtern, of Larchmont, N.Y. “I was really surprised by how big this place is,” said Lynch, a recent graduate of the State University of New York College at Oneonta, over a pitcher of beer.

“You don’t expect anything like this in Queens,” said Shtern, 22, an office administrator.

This time, Lynch said, she had returned to Studio Square for a small birthday get together. And despite the threesome’s two-hour roundtrip commute – via the Hudson Line on the Metro-North Railroad and the R line subway – they all said the trip was well worth it and that they plan to return in the future.

Lynch and her friends are one example of a broader phenomenon occurring here: large groups of newcomers, many who would have never previously set foot outside of Manhattan, now come to this Queens neighborhood. The area is also home to the Tony Bennett-founded $78 million dollar Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, and Kaufman Astoria Studios, currently finishing a $20 million expansion.

In particular, Studio Square – on 36th Street near 35th Avenue – attracts packs of outside commuters, by train and by car, mostly on the weekends. Since opening over four months ago, the beer garden has estimated about 30,000 customers each week, said Larry Cerullo, 37, a Queens native and one of its five business partners, during an interview at his upstairs office, which overlooks the outdoor courtyard.

Now there are more people around the neighborhood, said Alecks Zganiacz, 27, a bartender at Sunswick, a small dimly-lit bar one block away. Zganiacz added that many of the new visitors get more dressed up than the locals, who mostly wear jeans, T-shirts and sweatshirts. There are a lot more “mini-skirts and high-heels” in the neighborhood, she said.

And though several residents “hope it won’t bring too much change to the area,” as Molly McGaughran, 25, a receptionist, said on a sidewalk outside a local grocery store, five locals interviewed were receptive to the place.

Nearby pockets of overdevelopment and high-rise buildings have, of course, made residents more aware that this area could be next. That is, like Williamsburg in the mid-1990s, the neighborhood is reasonably affordable, close to Manhattan and full of artists, actors, writers and dancers – all factors that, typically, are signs of gentrification. But the next-neighborhood process is still in its early stages, which is why Cerullo sees the recent growth differently. It is not gentrification, he said, but rather his way of bettering the block.

“This was a factory community. Now this is a family community. No longer are the streets desolate at night,” Cerullo said.

This new development comes with a price tag, though, albeit a small one. Studio Square charges $18 for a pitcher­ – Sam Adams and Pilsner Urquell, among 17 other drafts, are on tap – while Veronica’s Bar, an old neighborhood Irish pub, for example, charges $10 for a pitcher of Budweiser.

Studio Square’s food also costs more than many close-by establishments. Here, a half-pound hamburger costs $8 – with fries, $10 – while at local bar and restaurant Sunswick a half-pounder goes for $6.25 – with fries, $9.25.

But these slightly higher prices also provide benefits, like supporting much-needed jobs, of which the beer garden has created many: Cerullo said he filled 70 positions after receiving about 1,500 applications.

Studio Square also offers a new sense of neighborhood appeal, harking back to the early 20th century, when there were roughly 300 beer gardens in Queens. Today, the only other close-by beer garden is Bohemian Hall in Astoria, started in 1919.

Ease of access to public transportation has helped Studio Square’s popularity, too. Since the beer garden is within walking distance of four subway lines, getting to and from Brooklyn and Manhattan – not to mention Westchester County, as is the case with Lynch and her friends – is easy.

Another big success factor: warm weather. Studio Square’s real draw is its outdoor courtyard, though there are a couple of interior bars for accommodating patrons during wintertime. “The weather has so much to do with the people coming,” said Astoria resident and actor Oscar Avila, 29, who says he’s been to the beer garden twice. “The visitors won’t be here in the winter.”

As for the beer garden’s plans come cold weather, Cerullo said, with a smile, “We’re working on it.”