Gentile, Golden Want 93 Lounge Shut Down

By on January 7, 2013  Business
Jan 072013
 
Source: Google Maps

Source: Google Maps

Officials in Bay Ridge are calling for the closure of a controversial night club after a New Years Eve melee ended with four people in the hospital after they were allegedly struck by a drunk driving couple fleeing the fight.

Both City Councilman Vincent Gentile and a spokesperson for State Senator Marty Golden had some harsh words for the 93 Lounge, and said it was time to shut the place down once and for all – with Gentile saying he plans to enlist multiple agencies in going after the problematic dance party venue, as reported by Will Bredderman for Brooklyn Daily. 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 »

CB 10 To Liquor Authority: 86 The 93 Lounge

By on April 30, 2012  Business
Apr 302012
 

Source: Google Maps

Last week, members of Bay Ridge’s Community Board 10 recommended that the state shutter a 93rd Street watering hole they insist has turned into a den of drug dealing and violence, reports Brooklyn Daily’s William Bredderman.

The panel asked the State Liquor Authority to deny a liquor license renewal for the 93 Lounge [315 93rd St], citing complaints of noise, fights and littering from residents of 93rd Street between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue, who say the lounge’s shady patrons routinely disturb the peace on their street.

“There’s a memory of how this place has been run,” former Police and Public Safety Committee chairwoman Susan Pulaski told Brooklyn Daily. “They’re known for bringing in third-party promoters and illegal activity. We all know about the drug situation in there.” Continue reading »

Crackdown On New Liquor License Applications: Right Idea, Wrong Target?

By on November 11, 2011  Food & Drink
Nov 112011
 

The Brooklyn Ink is the latest publication to report on a trend in the Bay Ridge bar and nightclub business – a great reluctance on the part of Community Board 10 to recommend new liquor licenses be approved by the State Liquor Authority. The article highlights two establishments in particular – Logan’s, a Puerto Rican restaurant, and Ibiza, a Mediterranean restaurant and nightclub whose very name is synonymous with debauchery – that are in locations previously occupied by noisy, complaint-magnet bars and clubs. The keys to acceptance, according to the Community Board and City Councilman Vincent Gentile, are showing a willingness to be a partner with the community in the areas of safety and quality of life. There does, however, seem to be a general mood of confrontation displayed by the Board towards all newcomers.

Hey, I get that we deserve a little peace and quiet in the wee hours of the morning, but I have a question. With all of this focus on denying liquor licenses to new establishments, is the Community Board and State Liquor Authority inadvertendly – and unfairly – protecting existing bars and clubs at the expense of new ones? A sort of lucrative members-only club that doesn’t accept new members? And if the goal is to protect the neighborhood’s safety and quality of life, is that sort of preferential treatment really justified? Does “new” really automatically mean “more trouble than established?”

More from the Brooklyn Ink: Bay Ridge Gets Tough On Liquor License Applications