Oak Beach Inn

In 1969, Robert Matherson bought what was then a waterfront barrier island restaurant and converted it into an enormously popular (and controversial) nightclub.

[2] In 1993, an unhappy Matherson started a "Move Out of New York Before It's Too Late" campaign complete with a hearse, banners and TV ads.

[6] When it closed, the inn's two-ton statues of whales and dolphins, which were commonly touched by clubgoers, were moved to Danfords on the Sound in Long Island.

[8] At the time of demolition, the Suffolk County Legislator commented that the park agreement avoided "an enormous tax increase in Babylon, which would have had to pay a court judgment of as much as $20 million or watch its coastline be forever scarred by high-rise development" and the money came from the county's greenway program.

Robert Matherson later opened Oak Beach Inn at 227 Duval Street, Key West, Florida.

[citation needed] Robert "Rosebud" Butt is credited with inventing the Long Island Iced Tea, while working as a bartender at the original OBI in the 1970s.

In 2010, the Babylon-based rock band Two Cent Sam released the "OBI Song" and a DIY video celebrating the Oak Beach Inn's history and impact on Long Islanders and the void in Long Island night life after the OBI's destruction.