No Oyster Bar? How About a Methadone Clinic?
Earlier this year, the Alan Harding-Jim Mamary restaurant empire endured a setback when residents objected to their vision for an oyster bar at 299-301 Hoyt, formerly occupied by a pediatrician. The Buildings Department eventually backed the residents, says PMFA, stating that zoning would permit a Group 4 use: a community facility such as educational, recreational,…
Earlier this year, the Alan Harding-Jim Mamary restaurant empire endured a setback when residents objected to their vision for an oyster bar at 299-301 Hoyt, formerly occupied by a pediatrician. The Buildings Department eventually backed the residents, says PMFA, stating that zoning would permit a Group 4 use: a community facility such as educational, recreational, religious or health would have to occupy the spot. Apparently the landlord, none too happy with the ruling, has decided to advertise, with a tinge of anger, for the still unoccupied space. GMAP
I admire how Alan Harding helped put Smith Street on the map. He was a pioneer. But the amount of retail restaurants this guy and his partners have opened seems OCD and destructive. Shnack is gone. Trout and Gravy are gone as well as that bizarre fake/ironic pizza place down the block from it.
Here’s an idea. Let the neighborhood NOT have another boutique restaurant.
you don’t get why they are preferable ’cause you’re a drinker.
What lame excuses to protest this place. Mamary’s places aren’t frat boy hangouts. Nor is this space even close to being large enough to be that kind of loud “booze” bar (like sports bars, the yacht club, etc). Medical offices are depressing. They’re an eyesore; they always have ugly awnings and facades. They contribute nothing to community or atmosphere. I don’t get why that’s preferable.
no reason streets off the main drag shouldn’t have nighttime businesses that serve booze. the difference, imho, in terms of degrading the quality of life for nearby residents is the extent to which “booze” is actually central to the mission of the place. whether the oyster bar was really a pretense for a “booze” bar, i do not know, but it does seem that the reaction here was a bit uptight.
i live near to a small restaurant “off the main drag” that serves “booze.” it’s a really pleasant amenity to have around. i have a kid and there’s never any noise that bothers us.
I enjoy Gowanus Yacht Club but I would sure hate to live next to it. It is LOUD! (Btw, I lived next door to/over a restaurant with outdoor seating for 9 years. It was kind of fun, actually , because they had a bubbly foundation and I could sit in my living room and eavesdrop on conversations. Didn’t mind too much because it was not rowdy in the least and was closed up tight by midnight.
“I’ve frequented the wine bar on the corner and its such a well-run establishment, attracting a crowd you actually want to be around.” (sounds like a snob talking-she ‘frequents’ places with the right ‘crowd’)
“This is a street off the main drag that” (which is precisely why should not be a nightime business that serves booze)
Kind of reminds me of the “Christotora Treatment Center” — Gregg Singers’ bizarre bluff about putting a shelter and outpatient clinic in a school building cum Charas community center in the East Village, after residents who’d fought to keep the community center in place challenged his international youth hostel plan.
Charas is still vacant.
I don’t know where people get the idea that community zoning (that would be a community facility such as educational, recreational, religious or health facility) is ever going to mean “Oyster Bar” — the zoning is there for a reason. Developers get these FAR breaks to include community space and they don’t just get to turn it into commercial space because no one can think of anything between “methadone clinic” and “oyster bar.”
I just heard there going to put a homeless shelter thier.
I’ve frequented the wine bar on the corner and its such a well-run establishment, attracting a crowd you actually want to be around. This is a street off the main drag that wouldn’t draw the frat crowd at all. There’s no reason to think that an Oyster Bar would fail there, or would be a nuisance.
The decision was swayed by stuffy neighbors who assumed the worst and bought into the fratboy ridiculousness, most likely without having even entered the other bar to see how simple the whole thing could be.
I think the methadone sign is brilliant. You want community? Bring on the rehab patients.