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 »

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