Chernow says he grew up on 87th between First and Second avenues (Google Maps)
A well-known New York restaurateur who grew up on the Upper East Side has shared a deeply personal account of the sexual abuse he says he suffered as a child at the hands of men who embedded themselves in neighborhood after-school programs, sports leagues, and scouting organizations — and who, in at least two cases, were later arrested or convicted on related charges.
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Michael Chernow, a co-founder of The Meatball Shop (which previously had a UES location) and Seamore’s (which will soon become Wainwright’s Tavern) grew up on East 87th Street between First and Second Avenues. In an interview published earlier this month on the YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly, Chernow describes in detail how, starting around age eight, he was groomed and sexually abused by a man named Daniel Sayers, who ran an after-school program on the block called Dan’s Cougars, coached youth sports, drove a school bus, and served as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader.“He zeroed in on me,” Chernow says in the video. “He told me all the things that I wanted to hear as a kid.”
Chernow says his home life at the time was chaotic and violent, and that he was drawn to Sayers because the man offered something his own father did not: attention and physical affection. It was that vulnerability, he argues, that made him a target — and that he believes makes children everywhere targets today.
The abuse Chernow describes is consistent with how investigators later characterized Sayers’s behavior. In February 2012, New York State Police arrested Daniel Sayers, then 59, after his landlord discovered what authorities described as a “massive” collection of child pornography in his moving boxes. Sayers was charged with two felony counts of possessing child pornography and dismissed from his volunteer position as a Deputy Inspector in the auxiliary unit at the 20th Precinct, where he had served for decades. He had previously received a presidential award for his community service.
Chernow also describes a second man, named Jerrold Schwartz, who led Boy Scout Troop 666 on the Upper East Side and ran a tour company called Adventure Trails. He says he knew Schwartz from scouting activities and encountered him alongside Sayers and another individual, describing the three as a connected group. Schwartz was indicted in 2001 on more than 30 counts of sodomy and pleaded guilty to four counts, admitting he had sexually abused a teenage scout in his home and office. He was released on parole in 2008 after serving more than five years. A recording of Schwartz apologizing to his victim was entered into evidence at his arraignment.
Chernow also names a man he identifies as Kiley Jones, whom he says worked at the Cougars program alongside Sayers and later became a New York City police officer. He alleges that Jones engaged in inappropriate physical contact with him during that period — but stops short of describing the conduct as equivalent to what Sayers did, and East Side Feed has not independently verified the allegation against Jones.
The interview, titled “Pedophiles Are Everywhere,” has drawn attention on neighborhood social media platforms, with longtime residents saying they remember the Cougars program. For Chernow, speaking about the abuse publicly is connected to a broader goal of warning parents, particularly against complacency around youth organizations.
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“Parents need to know how invasive and abundant it is that these predators are targeting,” he says in the interview. “They are looking for the vulnerable kid.”Chernow has spoken over the years about his subsequent addiction to drugs and alcohol, which began around age 12 and culminated in a near-fatal heroin overdose at 23. He has credited sobriety, fitness, and mentorship with turning his life around — and built two recognized restaurant brands while doing it. He is also the founder of Kreatures of Habit, a wellness brand, and Sober Fit Dude, a coaching community for men in recovery.
In the interview, he draws a direct line between the years of abuse and the years of addiction. “The molestation is really what fueled my need to want to escape,” he says. He also connects his own experience to broader patterns now receiving attention amid renewed public interest in the Epstein files and the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy proceedings, which have involved tens of thousands of abuse claims from former scouts.
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