Community Board 10 To Discuss Summer Streets, Club Cats Tonight At General Meeting

By on February 25, 2013  News
Feb 252013
 
An artist's rendering of a typical Community Board meeting in New York City.

An artist’s rendering of a typical Community Board meeting in New York City.

The general meeting of Community Board 10 will be held tonight at the Knights of Columbus (1305 86th Street – 7:15pm), and oh, my, have they got quite a line-up planned for tonight.

  • Public Hearing - In the matter of the adoption and support of the Capital and Expense Priorities for fiscal Year 2014.

I don’t see this one being too controversial. Given the way Board 10 works, they’ll take a professional approach to determining what the community’s infrastructure investment needs are. Oh, they’ll be somewhat stymied in reaching a consensus relative to other Boards, thanks to Bay Ridge’s ideological even-split, but consensus they will eventually reach.

And then Mayor Bloomberg will introduce a budget balanced on the backs of school and library cuts, and fines on restaurants that sell 20-ounce bottles of Pepsi. Continue reading »

Déjà Vu? Amnesia ‘Forgets’ Name, Pretends To Be Another Business

By on December 20, 2012  Business, Featured story
Dec 202012
 
Photo: Brian Hedden/Bay Ridge Odyssey

Photo: Brian Hedden/Bay Ridge Odyssey

In the latest chapter in the saga of controversial mighty morphin’ 4th Avenue nightclub Amnesia, it seems the nightspot’s owners have found yet another way to get around applying for a cabaret license.

Owner Frank Sofia, who recently rechristened the business “Club Cats” said that he is now “lending” the property to Sandy-displaced Sheepshead Bay restaurant New Cats Cafe. Sofia’s promising – among other things – a more subdued space, as well as employment for Hurricane Sandy victims, as reported by Will Bredderman for Brooklyn Paper. Continue reading »

Why won’t Amnesia get its cabaret license? No, seriously. Why?

By on September 11, 2012  Business
Sep 112012
 

The Amnesia nightclub is located in a commercial zone, like the commercial strips on Third and Fifth Avenues. (Photo by Brian Hedden)

I’m going to make a possibly unpopular argument and say that the Amnesia dance club (10007 4th Avenue) should be allowed to operate, in spite of what Community Board 10 has to say. But not if they refuse to seek out a cabaret license, which we demonstrated last spring is with the night club’s reach, if they’d only try.

Will Bredderman wrote today on BrooklynDaily.com about Community Board 10′s renewed efforts to close the Amnesia nightclub – by moving to have its state liquor license revoked on the grounds that it continues to operate as a dance club without the required cabaret license from the City’s Consumer Affairs department.

I have to admit, I’m a little surprised this has become an issue again. After the Community Board recommended to deny a cabaret license to Amnesia back in March, I knew that the club continued to operate through the spring and early summer, and I knew they still didn’t have a cabaret permit. But while the State Liquor Authority renewed their on-premise alcohol permit, it also seemed to me that club events that used to take place at Amnesia moved to a new club near the Gowanus Canal called SRB (as in Salsa, Reggaeton, and Bachata). So I didn’t think there was any more activity to stop. Continue reading »

Apologies: A Blog Publisher Tries Some Much Needed Humble Pie

By on July 23, 2012  Miscellaneous
Jul 232012
 

This is pecan pie. I love pecan pie, but what I really need to be eating is humble pie. Photo: Flickr user stu_spivack

Sometimes, I can be a real dick. And I’m sorry about that. I really am.

I’m going to try and stop that. My new personal goal for the past few months: to become a much less judgmental person while holding on to my world-class cynicism. I think cynicism is funny. In the right dosage, it can put the little hypocrisies of life in perspective. I would consider The Daily Show, born more than anything else out of a cynicism for biased and/or lazy journalism, to be a prime example of that.

And I’m totally fine continuing to pass judgements on the big stuff – I’ll always be a pro-honesty, kindness, tolerance, social justice and an anti-victim-blaming, racism, warmongering, and hypocrisy kind of person.

Judging the little stuff that doesn’t have any real impact on me or anyone else, that’s the kind of stuff I’m trying to rid my soul of. I’d like to think I’m doing a decent job, considering where I’m coming from, but sometimes I still have lapses.

I’ve had plenty of lapses, really, but there are a couple of egregious mistakes in particular that I would now like to walk back. Continue reading »

Community Board: Summer Stroll approved, Amnesia cabaret license rejected

By on February 29, 2012  Featured story, News
Feb 292012
 

Concept art for Summer Stroll. The program was approved Monday night by Community Board 10. (Artwork courtesy Office of Vincent Gentile)

Quick note regarding Monday’s Community Board 10 meeting. As expected, the Summer Stroll program on Third Avenue was approved, by a vote of 34-1. The Merchants of Third Avenue organization is now free to proceed with the program. The program requires final approval from the Department of Transportation. (Corrected March 5.)

Also as expected, the Board recommended the rejection of the cabaret license application of the Amnesia nightclub, by a vote of 35-1. The application will now proceed to the city government’s Department of Consumer Affairs. The DCA is not obligated to follow the recommendation of the Community Board, and has granted licenses in Brooklyn over community objection in the recent past.

Monday: Community Board 10 meeting at Knights of Columbus

By on February 24, 2012  Events
Feb 242012
 

Community Board 10 will meet at Knights of Columbus on 86th Street.

On Monday night, Community Board 10 will meet at Knights of Columbus (1305 86th Street). Among the topics for discussion will be the Third Avenue Summer Stroll program and the cabaret license application to allow dancing at Amnesia nightclub.

The Police & Public Safety committee voted last week against recommending a cabaret license for Amnesia. However, even if the full board follows suit, the final determination is made by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. The DCA is not obligated to follow the recommendation of the Community Board, and has granted licenses in Brooklyn over community objection in the recent past.

Summer Stroll passed it’s committee vote earlier this month. If approved by the full Board, it will be free to proceed this summer.

The agenda, pulled from the CB10 web site, follows: Continue reading »

Dancing license for Amnesia may be granted over community objection, says recent history

By on February 23, 2012  Featured story, Food & Drink
Feb 232012
 

Don't let the apartment building fool you – officially, Amnesia is located in a commercial zone. (Photo: Brian Hedden)

When they meet next Monday at the Knights of Columbus, one of the issues facing the members of Community Board 10 will be the cabaret license application that would legally allow dancing inside of the Amnesia nightclub (10007 4th Avenue). Backed by strong opposition from residents near the club, the Board’s Police & Public Safety Committee voted against the application, and one might expect the full Board to follow suit.

But that and a pre-paid cell phone will get you a call with someone who cares, just as long as you’re not calling the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, which has granted licenses against Board wishes elsewhere in Brooklyn in recent years.

Residents are up in arms over quality-of-life problems resulting from nightlcub events at Amnesia, including noise, parking, garbage, and vomiting. But the DCA is charged by law to make zoning issues its primary determining factor, and history suggests that even Amnesia’s illegal operation as an unlicensed nightclub will not be sufficient cause to derail its bid for a license. Keep reading to learn more about nightclubs in Greenpoint and by Fulton Ferry that earned cabaret licenses from the City over objections from their respective Community Boards, and about the zoning environment at Amnesia’s 4th Avenue location…

Cabaret license for Amnesia nighclub faces opposition from neighbors, Community Board

By on February 16, 2012  Featured story, Food & Drink
Feb 162012
 

Halloween 2011 dance party at Amnesia nightclub. The club is facing strong opposition from neighbors and Community Board 10 in its pursuit of a cabaret license. Video by Alex Pushkin on Vimeo.

A cabaret license application for the Amnesia nightclub (10007 4th Avenue) is facing stiff opposition from neighbors, who spoke out against the club at a Community Board 10 sub-committee meeting Wednesday night.

Citing community complaints, adverse history, and the fact that Amnesia has already been operating as a dance club without a cabaret license, the Police & Public Safety Committee voted to recommend rejecting Amnesia’s cabaret application.

Representatives from Amnesia claimed that the club is only open once a week now, a departure from its earlier life as a Brazilian steak house. Club representatives also claimed to have made recent changes to security arrangements, and pointed to the 68th precinct’s own report of a spotty complaint and arrest history in 2011 versus a clean record so far in 2012. Continue reading to learn of the residents’ response, along with some background on NYC cabaret and dancing laws