Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
Notes From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Culture War, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
Yours truly didn’t feel like going— but she went anyway. I’m glad I did! For starters (and by Greenpoint standards, anyway) the meeting was pretty mellow. This is a good thing since I was not really in the mood for some of the angrier and uglier rhetoric that can (and does) come to pass at these meetings. This is not to suggest there wasn’t anger: there most assuredly was. The difference was the people (ladies all) who aired their ire were (as a friend noted) so darned nice about it! Bicyclists, illegal sidewalk vendors, impertinent youths and liquor licenses all get the treatment at the hands (or would that be mouths) of these ladies. One such lass made an observation so piquant that she has henceforth earned my undying admiration. But I am getting ahead of myself. Without further ado here is footage from last night’s meeting— along with synopses and a bit of analysis from yours truly. Enjoy!
Part I: D. I. Fulton gives opening statements/props and a general rundown of crime trends.
The Rundown:
- Grand larceny auto and burglaries are up, everything else is down.
- Vehicle accidents are down 4.1%
- D. I. Fulton explains that since the crime stats for the 94th are so low that one or two burglaries can skew the crime statistics upward.
- A spate of robberies via a man riding a bicycle centering (roughly) around “Woodpoint Road and Conselyea Street”. This individual has since been apprehended and identified in a line-up by two victims. NOTE: this chap’s activities came to pass between (once again: roughly) 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. in the morning and his victims were women in their 20’s.
- D. I. Fulton talks about burglaries.
Part II: D. I. Fulton speaks about car break-ins and the public speaks!
- Arrests are up 24.7%
- A case of Greenpoint roof theft
- D. I. Fulton advises runners patronizing McCarren Park to mind their personal property.
- One citizen applauds the 94th for apprehending a man who exposed himself to her and her daughter— and physically threatened them at North 7 Street and Bedford Avenue.
- Same said citizen complains about illegal street vendors.
Part III: The Public Speaks, continued
- Illegal vendors, continued
- A general discourse on unruly behavior in general on Bedford Avenue and Williamsburg in general.
- A Greenpoint resident queries D. I. Fulton about vehicle theft: there were 13 over the summer and 109 total.
Parts IV & V: The Public Speaks, continued
The aforementioned Greenpoint resident complains about Five Leaves’s use of the sidewalk (allegedly after permitted hours for a “sidewalk cafe”) and follows is a general discussion:
- A burglary on Bedford Avenue
- A lady from the Lions Club gives the 94th props
- Bicyclists
- Street closures and parties, e.g.; do they require permits?
- Other things including— but not limited to— one of the most awesome observations (or dare I hope: promises) I have ever heard at a 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting. Go to 2:31 and hear it for yourself!
- There are 97 liquor licenses pending (including a renewal for the Production Lounge*). D.I. Fulton explains this as “growing pains”.
- Parties
- Complaints about 311 dropping calls
Closing observations/thoughts:
- Once again and all things considered: this meeting was pretty tame.
- Nonetheless there was plenty of anger to go around. This mostly centered around aspects of the “new” Williamsburg being a tourist attraction and/or a watering hole of choice. Which brings me to…
- the subject of liquor licenses. If the ostensible function of our Community Board is to be the voice of the people and/or institute some semblance of “community standards” their determinations should be more binding. What’s the point of having due process if the SLA (State Liquor Authority) simply looks at their recommendation— let’s say, to deny a liquor and/or Cabaret license— and they issue the license (undoubtedly greased along by lobbyists/parties with deep pockets) anyway? Just a thought.
- The previous Op Ed(s) having been written (and to close on a note of levity), I am taking a serious shine to the notion of some exchange program between Greenburg/Williamspoint grannies and ‘noobs in the ‘hood.** I have no doubt the previous can show middle America a few things about partying (take this, for example.) Our friends (far) beyond the Hudson could use some good ol’ north Brooklyn flavor! It builds character.
Miss Heather
*Which inasmuch as much as yours truly can ascertain is STILL operating a monthly strip club. CASE IN POINT:
**I mean this with all due respect. I have grown to absolutely adore Greenpoint grandmas over the years. I simply wish others had the pleasure of enjoying their company. It isn’t so much about “Go back to Ohio”, so to speak, as it is “Get thee to Ohio”— and get us some respect!
Greenpoint Photo Du Jour: We Do It All!
Yesterday I really needed a laugh and thanks to the Production Lounge (where the above sign is located) I got one. We’re not talking a paltry chuckle either. We’re talking bent-over-gasping-for-air fits of maniacal cackling. There a measure of truth in advertising at play here: gun fire, noise complaints, monthly strip parties with lap dances— and now Bar Mitzvahs and Sweet Sixteen Parties! The Production Lounge really does do it all!
My advice: if you decide to have little Timmy’s b’rith at this establishment it might be best to bundle up your bundle of joy in some Kevlar. And oh yeah, toting along a bottle or two of hand sanitizer may not be such a bad idea either.
Miss Heather
TONIGHT IN GREENPOINT: Lap Dances & Champagne Room
Those of you who prefer twigs and berries to mistletoe this holiday season will be delighted to know that tonight the “Adonis Lounge” will be hosting a private party featuring fifteen of New York’s “hottest Men”, lap dances, champagne room and full bar and “full stage show”. If the address of this establishment, 113 Franklin Street, sounds vaguely familiar that’s because it is the location of the Production Lounge. Perhaps they have decided to diversify from hip-hop to himbos?
Adonis Lounge
Thursday, December 17, 2009; doors open at 8:00 p.m.
The Production Lounge
113 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222
Get your stripper rolls ready, ladies and gents. It’s going to be a bumpy (and grindy) night!
Miss Heather
UPDATE, December 18, 2009: If my inbox and what I have been told in person today is any indication, both 311 and the 94th Precinct received a lot of angry phone calls last night. In one such case regarding the latter the desk Sargent advised the caller that this was, in fact, illegal but they (the police department) could do nothing about it. The he advised him/her to call 311.
From The New York Shitty Inbox: 500 Words Or Less Wanted
Filed under: 11206, 11211, 11222, 11237, Brooklyn, Bushwick, East Williamsburg, East Williamsburg Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
This item comes courtesy of the Editor of Staccato Magazine, an online periodical featuring “microfiction”. Matt writes:
Hi Miss Heather-
First of all, I love your site. I live in Greenpoint and really enjoy seeing pictures of our neighborhood (for better or worse), and you did a great job covering the shootings at the Production Lounge and Club Exit.
I wanted to send you this note about a new website I just launched. I know it’s not necessarily what you normally cover, but maybe you think it’s newsworthy since we’re based out of Greenpoint and hope to have some events at WORD or Matchless or other local places once we get some momentum.
At the very least, check it out yourself and let me know what you think.
Well, I checked it out— and despite being a non-fiction devotee (real life is much, much more interesting in my opinion)— methinks this is a wonderful way for aspiring (or established) writers in the 11222 and beyond to get their work out there. Any and all who are interested in submitting work should read Staccato’s guidelines and “About” page.
Happy writing— and good luck, Matt!
Miss Heather
It’s BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK: The Franklin Street Tower Of Fun Returns
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Like many of the people reading this I went out the evening of St. Patrick’s Day. I wanted to catch up over drinks with a good friend of mine. To this end we wanted a place that was nice and quiet to chat. Initially we went to t.b.d.— and although we had a good time— the din of merry making was not conducive to having a quality “one on one”. To this end we decided to see what was shaking at The River Barrel.
As we had hoped it had plenty of seating available and nice, quiet surroundings. Save of course the sonic hum of the giant NYPD issue spotlight gracing the front of their property. I struck up a conversation with the bartender (who is a very nice and very funny woman) to get her thoughts. She explained to me that the reason her establishment was almost empty had a lot to do with this rather noticeable fixture.
It scares away the customers.
She said. She then proceeded to tell me about a most amusing incident she witnessed the last time the “Tower of Fun” graced the frontage of her place of employment. It was in the wee hours of the morning when she noticed one of the local winos (of whom my fair burgh has quite a number of) pass by. Upon noticing this light fixture he paused for a moment. After assessing the situation he proceeded to kick it repeatedly. Not satisfied with this act of defiance he decided to cap things off by urinating on it.
Granted, the previous slice of Greenpoint is humorous— but the underlying issue with the “Tower of Fun” not. How can the Production Lounge be policed and public safety concerns be addressed without impacting adjacent eating and drinking establishments? There is no easy answer to this question— but I hope we find one soon. It doesn’t strike me as being very fair that a business which is not a nuisance to community* should bear the brunt of its neighbor’s lack of regard for its neighbors and the community as a whole.
That’s my two cents. Take ’em or leave ’em as you see fit.
Miss Heather
*As far as I know. If anyone disagrees with my assessment please speak up via comments.
Notes From The Community Council Meeting
Although not as well attended as February’s meeting last night’s 94th Precinct Community Council Q & A session once again proved to be full house. As was the case last month the Production Lounge (and the numerous quality of life issues it has posed for its neighbors) was the primary— but not necessarily exclusive— topic of the evening. Follows are a few other points/factoids I found of interest:
- Burglaries and grand larceny are up from last year.
- There is one burglar at large whose activity has increased in the last two weeks. His M.O. is to strike during business hours. He is particularly interested in lap top computers.
- Robbery and felony assaults are down.
- There are 68 bars in the 94th Precinct.
Something I observed at this meeting which I found interesting was the very visible presence of local business owners. Establishments such as the Shayz Lounge( whose owner, an incredibly cute man named Seamus— who some might remember had the front window of his bar punched in last month— brought up the subject of local bar owners putting their heads together regarding some of the problems eating and drinking establishments have recently posed for the community of late), the Black Rabbit, Dalaga and Papasitos, were among those presence. Conversely, it should be noted that no one from the Production Lounge was present at this meeting.
On that note and without further ado follow are some selections from the evening’s meeting. For the sake of brevity (there was much redundancy with both the questions posed by the attendees and answers tendered by Deputy Inspector Fulton) and my own sanity I have done a great deal of editing so please consider these movies as highlights or “Cliff Notes” of what came to pass. On with the show!
SEGMENT 1: This primarily deals with minutes from the previous meeting and Deputy Inspector Fulton giving us a rundown of current crime trends.
SEGMENT 2: In this segment D.I. Fulton gives us more information regarding the two recent homicides in Greenpoint as well as a drunk driving fatality. He begins to take questions. Not surprisingly it kicks off with neighbors of the Production Lounge airing their frustration.
SEGMENT 3: The owner of Shayz Lounge speaks & much ado about the Production Lounge.
SEGMENT 4: Mixed bag: more ado about the Production Lounge, car break-ins and a bartendress raises her concern about a uptick in muggings at the Bedford Avenue stop of the L.
In conclusion I suppose what I found most compelling was that a woman present finally mustered the nerve to say what was undoubtedly on the minds of a great many people in the room.
Miss Heather
Public Service Announcement: 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Those of you who are concerned about last month’s shooting at the Production Lounge or the three homicides* which came to pass recently in the Garden Spot would and should tender your two cents at the 94th Precinct’s Community Council meeting. This will come to pass tomorrow, March 16, at 7:30 p.m.:
Greenpoint Savings Bank (AKA: Capital One)
807 Manhattan Avenue (Entrance on Calyer Street)
Brooklyn, New York 11222
I’ll be there… how about you?
Miss Heather
*Per the New York Times:
A former New York City police officer who resigned last year after being arrested on corruption charges is suspected of fatally shooting his 28-year-old ex-girlfriend and wounding another woman in Brooklyn on Sunday, the police said…
Yup. Bring your lawn chairs and popcorn kids because (as Bette Davis once said in All About Eve):
Street Art Photo Du Jour: Back In The Spotlight
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Not only is the Production Lounge back in the spotlight courtesy of New York’s Finest but it would also appear someone has incorporated it into a rather nifty piece of street art. Nice job Ellis!
Miss Heather
From The New York Shitty Inbox: A Message From Lentol’s Office
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Those of you who have contacted Joseph Lentol’s office regarding the recent shooting at the Production Lounge should find the following of interest. It is an email a I received from his office apprising me of what actions he is taking to ensure this does not happen again. Happy reading.
Dear Miss Heather,
My name is Amy Cleary and I work for Assemblyman Joe Lentol. I just wanted to give you and your readers an update that is being done with regard to the recent shooting at Production Lounge. We have spoken with many of our constituents who live near this location and listened to their accounts of that eventing. Any time you hear about people waking up to bullet holes six feet from where they sleep it is absolutely horrifying. We have written to the state liquor authority to ensure that there is a full investigation of this matter. We have also met with the police. The 94th precinct assures us that they are meeting with the owner and taking every step possible to prevent this from happening again, guns have no place near people’s homes. We intend to follow this matter closely and support the police in any way that we can. Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Sincerely,
Amy Cleary
So there have you. I have said it before and I’ll say it again: when it comes to constituent services Joe Lentol is tops!
Miss Heather
P.S.: On a related note some of you might have noticed that Yelp has scrubbed a number of the reviews for the Production Lounge. Hmm. In any case if anyone out there has screencaps of the now-excised entries let me know via comments. I would very much like to have them. Thanks!
A Red Herring In Greenpoint
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
One of the more compelling questions raised at last week’s meeting of the 94th Precinct Community Council was why Franklin Street currently has seven drinking establishments with an eighth one forthcoming. In other words, the citizens present wanted to know why are so many drinking establishments have been sanctioned to inhabit such a small area. When queried, D.I. Fulton did not have answer— not should he; he is a police officer, not an expert on liquor licensing. The following email from Phil DePaolo, however, might shed some light on this phenomenon:
I just can’t help felling extreme sadness after watching these videos from the above link about the problem with quality of life issues in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
During the rezoning I spoke to many residents of Hell’s Kitchen and the Lower East Side who were having many of the problems we face today. I was warned that this would happen to us. But to the City, our local council members and some community groups infrastructure and “quality of life issues” I felt were very important were considered non issues and my concerns fell on deaf ears.
Now we see how bars have transformed our community. Small businesses that served local residents have been forced out of their storefronts unable to meet high commercial rents that landlords know bars can afford. And since new bars often attract their clientele from outside the neighborhood, there is no local market cap on their number or viability. New bars attract non-local patrons, those patrons attract more outsiders and more new bars pop up to meet the boundless demand as the entire neighborhood becomes a scene, a lively scene, but also noisy, congested and sometimes dangerous to our community.
Neighborhoods thrive on responsible development and bars are a useful part of that development. But the bar scene has gotten out of hand. It is forcing on us an unbalanced, non-local and precarious economic base that compromises the quality of life for residents and depreciates the business value of current bars. Our neighborhood  residents and businesses and bar owners alike Âneeds a cap on the number of bars per block. I proposed this during the rezoning.
The State Liquor Authority has loosened its interpretation of how many bars are allowed by right within a 500 foot radius. It used to be that opening a bar within 500 feet of any 3 full liquor licenses required a special hearing at the SLA, consultation with the local community board and evidence of public benefit. The new interpretation will allow many more bars to slip in without that special hearing, consultation or evidence.
The new interpretation of the SLA’s 500 foot rule is that there must be 3 or more licenses of the same class. However, community boards do not have information regarding the classes of existing licenses to be able to make informed decisions.
The State Liquor Authority awards liquor licenses to bars in New York City without regard for local economic diversity or residential quality of life. These local concerns should lie within the purview of local governance, not an unaccountable state authority. To return local concerns to local governance, The New York Community Council will ask every City Council candidate to take a clear stand Âin writing, Âon developing new City Council zoning laws to restrict the proliferation of bars in our community, promote economic diversity and preserve the quality of residential life.
The bar problem may not seem as deep an issue as affordable housing or quality education, but it is an issue that affects residents personally and immediately, the kind of issue that brings residents to the voting booth.
Our neighborhood, long prized for its diversity of peoples, cultures and arts, has many challenges: rampant poverty, homelessness, violence and drugs, rampant gentrification, displacement of long term residents and businesses and now a bar scene that is out of control. Isn’t it time we took in hand the future of our neighborhood? We must ask City Council candidates, where do you stand on zoning limits for new bars?
So there have you. We, as citizens, have been effectively by-passed from having any voice regarding our own community’s future. As a result large venues/tourist attractions like Studio B (which, per Gothamist will be coming back with a vengeance. Soon.) and The Production Lounge (backed by lobbyists and/or unheard of amounts of money) are reshaping our community in a manner which best suits their interests, namely: making it a playground for others. When these “tourists” leave we are the ones who have to live with the consequences of their actions be it garbage, noise, traffic, a smashed window, posting an apology for said broken window, or having bullets fired outside (or inside) your home.
Contrary to what good ol’ Joe alleges (because has no other proverbial leg to stand on) this is not a race issue: it is a quality of life issue. An issue that has arisen time and time again in this, my community when nightclubs have operated with total disregard to the well-being of their neighbors. A neighborhood which I care very much about: Greenpoint.
Those of you who are amenable to having 11222 become another 11211 (or are simply apathetic) should ignore the rest of this post. Those of you who are interested taking our neighborhood back (or at least having your voice heard) can raise holy (but polite and non-threatening, please) hell with your elected officials. Here’s a few to kick things off:
State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol
619 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 383 – 7474
lentolj (at) assembly (dot) state (dot) ny (dot) ny (dot) us
Councilman David Yassky
114 Court Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
(718) 875 – 5200
yassky (at) council (dot) nyc (dot) ny (dot) us
Community Board 1
435 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn , New York, 11211
(718) 389 – 0009
Fax: (718) 389 – 0098
Email: bk01 (at) cb (dot) nyc (dot) gov
And last— but hardly least— you can complain to the New York State Liquor Authority. The people who have in large part created this problem in the first place.
Miss Heather
Photo Credit: Algul Siento
NYS Flickr Pool
You must be logged in to post a comment.