Metro

Precious Ruby’s back

When remaking their Coney Island gin mill, the owners of Ruby’s didn’t have to look far.

The 77-year-old institution reopened yesterday after doing a $200,000 gut renovation, decked out in the fabled boardwalk’s old planks.

The bar’s new decor incorporates more than 1,700 square feet of tropical-wood planks from sections of the 89-year-old boardwalk that the city replaced with concrete and plastic boards in the past year despite objections from preservationists.

The wooden planks were used to build a spectacular new bar counter and also now drape much of the watering hole, including parts of the ceilings, giving off a feeling of being under the boardwalk.

“We went through a nightmare to return this season, but we’re back, and hoping people will embrace our new look,” said co-owner Michael Sarrel.

Ruby’s was one of the few longtime boardwalk businesses to survive last year’s purge by local landlord Zamperla USA in its attempt to create a more upscale amusement district.

In order to gain a new, eight-year lease, the beloved dive bar had to agree to a major face-lift that included fixing its infamously code-violation-laden bathrooms – which now have “boardwalk ceilings” — and adding air conditioning and even a heating system, so it can remain open in the winter and show games during football season.

The kitchen has also been modernized but will include much of the same bar-food menu of Ruby’s past. Many of the Coney Island photos that have long hung on the bar’s walls were retained.

“For me, the biggest challenge was keeping Ruby’s identity, and I think we succeeded,” said Brooklyn’s Eric Safyan, the project’s architect.