Neighbors to Union Hall: Shut Up!
Since opening a little over a year ago, Union Hall’s formula—booze, bands, and bocce—has been a resounding success, drawing crowds of revelers to the North Slope. Some of the bar’s neighbors wish it were a tad less successful, though. In May a group of Union Street residents sent a letter to a bunch of officials…
Since opening a little over a year ago, Union Hall’s formula—booze, bands, and bocce—has been a resounding success, drawing crowds of revelers to the North Slope. Some of the bar’s neighbors wish it were a tad less successful, though. In May a group of Union Street residents sent a letter to a bunch of officials (including Mayor Bloomberg, BP Markowitz, State Senator Montgomery and Councilmember de Blasio) regarding the tremendous increase in noise and nuisance that’d befallen their street since Union Hall opened. The letter, which was signed by 76 people, claims the quality of life for the immediate neighbors has been drastically altered, leading to sleep loss, stress, anxiety and serious health issues. The signatories said the bar’s soundproofing measures were inadequate and that its patrons have terrorized Union Street by shouting, fighting, throwing bottles, urinating and passing out on the sidewalk. Jon Crow, one of the residents leading the charge against the bar, showed up at Wednesday night’s Community Board 6 meeting to expound on Union Hall’s alleged ne’er-do-well ways and to ask for the board’s help in bringing peace and quiet back to Union Street. From the outside, it may look like a library, but it’s not, said Crow, who intends to lobby the state liquor board so that Union Hall’s booze license isn’t renewed this spring.
The Skinny on Union Hall [Brownstoner] GMAP
It’s remarkable the depth and magnitude of emotion this article has sparked in the commentators, both for and against Union Hall. Ultimately, this is about a business– how a profit-making enterprise conducts its business, and the impact it has on its environment.
It is striking how many commentators here have harshly denigrated the claims of those affected by the bar; yet one wonders how many have lived next door to a live-music venue. It almost seems that there is a sheen of denial, or guilt, perhaps, at learning that a place that one enjoys can cause others to suffer.
It is indeed a particular paradox, perhaps, of a culture where we call ourselves “liberal”, that can have us making apologies for a profit-making enterprise that exploits the well-being of its neighbors, simply because it is a place we like to go to have a drink. It is almost the reverse of the knee-jerk “not in my back yard!”– just because it is not in your backyard, does it mean that someone else’s claim, in who’s backyard it is, is no less valid?
It is also surprising that so many commentators who are perhaps occasional visitors to the bar idly suggest that because they were shooed away by a bouncer at 2 am the bar is doing all that it can, or that the residents talk to the owners instead of signing a petition. One wonders if it does not occur to them that once friendly measures fail to make a difference, more extreme measures are in order…
Perhaps they would do well to inquire of the neighbors themselves whether they have spoken to the bar’s owners; or in their place, speak to them on their own initiative. This city would be a greater place if more of us took on our neighbors’ causes for own.
I LOVE UNI0N HALL!!!
OPEN ANOTHER ONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, PLEASE!!!!!
I live directly across the street from Union Hall and signed the petition and I am not an old-timer. I don’t have any issues with a bar being in that place. I only have issues with how the place manages the patrons once they leave the bar. They loiter outside for substantial amounts of time waiting for a cab, fighting, and just being obnoxious. Perhaps the managment should hire security to work the door and keep the sidewalk clear of drunks. As for the bar itself; it’s as lame and predictable as their other bar Floyd.
Now….if they try to close Jackie’s Fifth, that’s a reason to go to battle.
Check it:
I party all over this boro. Park Slope has got more than most. If you don’t know than at least act like you do. Kooks.
Willyberg has been over since they closed the Ships Mast. Way over.
BTW-
Union Hall is a shitbox. Not worth fightin over.
I was there last night too…and GOT LAID!!!
lovemylife.
PS people never struck me as smart or rich. it’s the haven for people who like dingy rooms and don’t have vision to live anywhere more interesting. viewed many properties while looking to buy and saw the ugliest furnishings, dumbest layouts and renovations.
Yeah, yeah, yeah! And then you grow old and die, you old fart. It was dumb young people who wanted to be hip, that made today’s wannabe “hot” neighborhoods what they are today. Yes, we then grow out of wanting to be hip, smarten up and become fairly rich. Some of us will even marry an alpha female or beta mansy-pansy male and have children that we will push around in big ass bugaboos! When that happens some COOL, HOT, YOUNG and HIP smart-ass will respond to my blog post by calling me an old fart and telling me why they choose to live in up and coming Brownsville!
Twenty years ago people use to go to Park Slope if they felt like getting shot in the face or just felt like shooting up. So you ain’t sayin nothin. That’s what gives the neighborhood that edge. A true hipster can handle it. Keep your beloved Park Slope granny, yuppie, or you fill in the blank, where you call the sanitation police to report a 6 year old for writing on the sidewalk with chalk and her mom is given a $300 fine for graffiti. Sanitation Department spokeswomen Kathy Dawkins stated that they do “not consider a child’s chalk drawing graffiti but if residents call and complain; we have to respond.”