Slopers Rally Against Alleged 'Gentleman's Club'
Last night it was Park Slope vs. Prime 6, as neighbors rallied at the CB6 meeting against the under-construction restaurant rumored to be a gentleman’s club. The owner of the spot, Akiva Ofshtein, came with his attorney to explain that Prime 6 will not be a gentleman’s club, rather a restaurant with a backyard, basement…
Last night it was Park Slope vs. Prime 6, as neighbors rallied at the CB6 meeting against the under-construction restaurant rumored to be a gentleman’s club. The owner of the spot, Akiva Ofshtein, came with his attorney to explain that Prime 6 will not be a gentleman’s club, rather a restaurant with a backyard, basement lounge and VIP room. He called the anonymous accusations and protest fliers passed around the neighborhood “cowardly.” What got Slopers really upset was the proposed closing time (11pm for backyard, 4am for the bar); the possibility of bottle service; the proposed occupancy of 230 people; and the suggestion this could be “the new home for the Brooklyn Nets.” (The “sultry young women” on the resaurant’s Myspace also got a shout out; the owner claims not to have seen the Myspace or main site.) As Hope Reichbach, who reps Steve Levin, said, “To have a restaurant for the Atlantic Yards crowd is different than to have a restaurant for this community.” Many complaints also arose from resident’s experiences with the uncleanliness of the construction site itself.
Despite the anger, Prime 6 has already been approved for a liquor license, not by CB6 but by the SLA. The board made a recommendation to start a dialog with the SLA and ask them to reconsider the license. The board also encouraged the owner of Prime Six to start a more constructive dialog with the community, although Slope residents accused the owner of being “a difficult person to deal with” and “disingenuous.” Only time will tell what’s in the future for Prime 6 in Park Slope….
i live next door, so i’m right on top of this backyard space (that the owner wants to keep open til midnight). so’s my toddler’s bedroom window. so basically she’s boned.
i aint have a problem with bars at all. i’m young, i like bars. i just don’t want to have to deal with tons and tons of noise, which i know is what’s going to happen here. that space is an echo chamber. sugarcane is noisy enough, but it isn’t bad because their backyard space is small and there isn’t an actual bar back there. at the board meeting, the owner was talking about how he wanted to put speakers in the back and pipe music back there, until he was told by the board that he wasn’t legally able to do that. that’s a bad sign.
this, combined with the way the dude spoke at the meeting (what specific hours do you intend to be open in the back? oh, i dunno (shrugs), i was thinking maybe midnight? whatever, something.) leads me to believe that 1) this guy doesn’t really know, or care, what his license’s limitations are, and 2) that he really isn’t arguing in much of good faith.
i mean, he has his liquor license, why should he care what we all have to say? truth be told, if he’s opening this place intending to make money off the arena clientele, opening a year before the arena does is not going to help. in order to make much of any money at all he’s going to need bodies in there before the arena crowd comes around and he basically pissed off the whole neighborhood.
i am wondering how they managed to get a liquor license for three bars (one outside) in an area with lots of other bars and stuff in less than a month. they certainly got their money’s worth on that one.
What 11217 said. I can understand people who live adjacent to the place fearing the noise factor, but the owner has done everything legally. Perhaps it’s the residue of everyone’s favorite phenomenon, gentrification. Bring it on.
“We, and you, have no idea what the clientele of Prime 6 will be. In fact, we really have no idea what kind of establishment this place will be, since most of the stuff floating around are rumors and the owner is shady and not forthcoming with details.”
It’s going to be a bar with an outdoor garden and it’s going to stay open the same hours as every other bar in NYC. How much more details do you need? If you’re worried about what sorts of businesses open next to your property perhaps you shouldn’t live next to a commercial space.
Secondly, you have no idea what the clientele of any new place opening up in Park Slope is going to be.
The owner aside, so far he’s done everything above board as required by law. As I said before, CB6 knew about the liquor license application back in November and had one full to raise any objections to it. They didn’t.
oh my. the weird set of intersections around this site is already one of the worst along flatbush between the plaza and atlantic avenue. it’s really going to be fun now.
“Signing off, due to the dumbass comments of 11217.”
Or to rephrase, ‘since my complaints have to do with my latent racism, I’ll go back into my hole now.’
very good points 11217.
oh, shut it 11217. A reference to the U.S. Constitution has no place here.
Signing off, due to the dumbass comments of 11217.
quote:
Why is it okay that a white yuppie place like Flatbush Farm and their bar across the street isn’t on the list by the uptight slopers? That place has outdoor space and is open late too. Come on, what’s the difference?
It seems it’s the expected clientele which is the REAL reason people are pissed. If this place was called Moonface Diner no one would give a flying eff.
lol
well for what it’s worth sporting events and strip bars are actually more prone to having violence than moonface establishments.. the only violent things in moonface establishments are the assault on the ears of nasal voices and assault on the eyes of of hideous fashion. but you do make a good point, 11217
*rob*
The owner doesn’t need to be forthcoming with details to you. It’s his business and he received a liquor license through due process of the law. If you walked by a new shop coming on 5th Avenue and the owners didn’t want to tell you what the place was going to be, would you be all up in arms about it???
You have no right to know about a new business until it opens to the public. Who exactly do you think you are?
I’m not saying the guy isn’t shady (I particularly didn’t appreciate the photos of the twin towers on the original website before it was taken down) but I don’t believe it’s in the Constitution that a new business owner kiss the ass of the neighbors before opening. It sure would be nice, but you aren’t entitled to it simply because you exist.