Wherein the Townsfolk Rise Up Against the Evil Clublord
The recent history of downtown neighborhoods versus the 'nightlife impresarios'
It looks like residents of the Soho block recently taken over by Delicatessen--one of whom peed on the restaurant's glass roof in early September--still have not warmed up to their loud, cocktatil-gulping neighbor. Via Eater, we bring you what they are calling "one of the best reader emails of all time":
Last night a friend and I were walking around SoHo and saw Delicatessen...Within five minutes of sitting at the bar, some young super-angry dude storms up to the bar and starts laying into the bartending staff screaming shit like, 'Fuck you!!! Fuck your restaurant!!! Fuck your hipstery little patrons who think they are so fucking cool!!! People fucking live on this block!!! I can hear these people screaming outside my fucking apartment all fucking night!!!' And all through his rant everyone, including the bartending staff, are just staring at this dude with big grins on their faces, clearly enjoying his rage...did I mention it's not even 8:30pm yet?
But it gets better.
As my friend and I are about to start our meal, all of a sudden a bunch of people in the apartments above the sidewalk tables simultaneously dump buckets of water down on the people dining below. (Luckily, my friend and I were just out of reach.) I don't know if they used buckets or pots, or if it was even water in them (I shudder to think otherwise), but it was a big sheet of something liquid and soaked at least four of five tables worth of patrons.
To add insult to injury, while these poor patrons were sitting in shock looking up at what happened, the people in the apartments then hit them with a second blast, scattering everyone for cover inside the restaurant, and forcing the waitstaff to have to reissue everyone's meals. Next thing you know, there's a bunch of patrons standing out in the street screaming up at the people in the apartments looking trying to instigate a brawl. Somehow, some way, the cops were never called and the situation quickly calmed down. (But of course no one would sit below those apartment units after that.)
Is this what it's come down to?
It's the latest in a series of Manhattan turf battles. Below, a roundup of some of the year's most compelling nightlife vs. neighborhood disputes:
Beatrice Inn: West Village residents have long had it out for the ultra-hip nightclub, which took over the space once occupied by a cozy neighborhood Italian place. West Villagers--including Amy Sedaris!--rallied to prevent the renewal of the club's liquor license, but it turned out there was little they could do. As we reported last month, owners Paul Sevigny and Matthew Abramyck had obtained the new paperwork before the angry mob even had a chance to make its voice heard at the community board meeting. Despite the club's debaucherous reputation, they have yet to officially run afoul of the State Liquor Authority, which leaves the neighbors without a case.
The Box: The Lower East Side cabaret has also garnered quite a reputation over the course of the last two years. On the inside, owner Simon Hammerstein has been accused of abusing and harassing his staff. Meanwhile, they managed both to annoy the neighbors and the SLA, which have accused them of misrepresentation on their original liquor license. While a community board voted to deny the renewal of their liquor license last month, another owner, Randy Weiner, promised to work on resolving the current issues, and managed to get the final vote delayed until October 20th.
Death & Co.: Known for its crafted signature cocktails, this speakeasy-style hangout has had nothing but trouble from day one. Back in February '07, East Villagers reported "that neighborhood seniors are scared of Death & Co.'s name. … Though Death’s name comes from a Prohibition-era anti-drinking propaganda piece, neighbors (according to those who spoke at the meeting) find it reminiscent of Nazi fascism and believe the stark cedar exterior recalls an Auschwitz rail car." Another, slightly less hysterical neighbor complained, “A restaurant with no windows seems like an affront.” Later that month, the SLA denied a liquor license renewal, claiming that a "small plates" menu did not a restaurant make (owner David Kaplan had originally billed his venture as a quiet eatery). Finally, after paying thousands of dollars in fines and abiding by a midnight bedtime, Mr. Kaplan sued the SLA and is back to his old routine--for now.
Bella's/Southside: The basement bar attached to post-graduate clubhouse Bar Martignetti never managed to charm its Nolita neighbors. Owners Anthony Martignetti and James Willis's solution? Shut it down, remodel, change the door policy (no more popped collars!), rename it Southside, and hope for the best. The doors reopened just last night, so it's currently too soon to say how the reincarnated lounge will fare.
Upcoming Dance Performances
"Tarantella - Spider Dance"-I Giullari di Piazza
American Theater of Actors/Chernuchian Theater, New York
Starting: 12/20/2008
Box Office:
Buy Tickets |
212-868-4444
Dance On Camera Festival
Walter Reade Theater, New York
Starting: 1/7/2009
Click here for more info >>
Sugar Salon - Jane Comfort and Company, Heather Olson, Deganit Shemy, and Anna Sperber
Baryshnikov Arts Center, Howard Gilman Performance Space, New York
Starting: 1/7/2009
Click here for more info >>
Your Ticket to Exclusive Movie Screenings
Presented by The Observer
most of the women who go to this restaurnat probably have herpes, too. Who wants a bunch of sleazoid moron skanks with herpes, drunkenly bellowing outside their window every night?
I think it's great that the neighbors got fed up with arrogant drunk scumbags at this restaurant. Who wants to have a bunch of starbucks and prozac-fueled alcoholics hanging around outside their house all night. Everyone is sick of stupid has-been "new york nightlife" the greasy scumbag idiots who inhabit that world. I hope the neighbors continue to take militant action against greasy, slimy drunk dirtbags at stupid restaurants like this.
Soho is not the place to go for night life and Im not going to say where that place is for fear of ruining it .When I have found myself in Soho all I can say is its mostly inhabited by a bunch of losers who can only tell you a lot of BS about themselves and BS about received opinion on everything from politics to the arts ...kind of sad...even the shoppers in the daytime look a bit pathetic trying to buy "happiness"
As long as it stays warm getting carry out fast food or street food & a pint of fortified wine it the best thing. Prop up against a dumpster or wall, consueme & sleep. The cops leave you alone. The people who live there don't bother you if you keep quiet, pick up your trash, don't fight or use your squat for a toilet. Since the melt down we street people are going to have a lot of company. 2 newbies, former yuppies: Don't pan handle near where you squat or near our squats. People call the cops about that. The cops remember your face & hassle you constantly.
When the first David Rabin / Will Regan club opened next to my loft 15 years ago, instead of dumping water, we tossed well aged chicken livers out of the night sky onto the howling line to get in (this after politely trying to get them to rein in their loud club). It worked.
Recipe - buy chicken livers. Leave in metal bowl on hot rooftop for 2 days. Wearing gloves, toss over the roof parapet. Feel a bit sorry for the patrons being showered by rotting flesh; then reflect upon your own months of sleeplessness / fruitless negotiation with slimy real estate lawyer who was only delaying. THEN perhaps the owners paid some heed. Though their current clubs are equally toxic.
When the first David Rabin / Will Regan club opened next to my loft 15 years ago, instead of dumping water, we tossed well aged chicken livers out of the night sky onto the howling line to get in (this after politely trying to get them to rein in their loud club). It worked.
Recipe - buy chicken livers. Leave in metal bowl on hot rooftop for 2 days. Wearing gloves, toss over the roof parapet. Feel a bit sorry for the patrons being showered by rotting flesh; then reflect upon your own months of sleeplessness / fruitless negotiation with slimy real estate lawyer who was only delaying. THEN perhaps the owners paid some heed. Though their current clubs are equally toxic.
Why didn't they mention the Waverly Inn? The crowd of cars idling and blocking traffic, the people peeing on Waverly place against the neighboring apartment building, the oglers and hangers on who just have to hang on that corner, the drunks barking loudly in the street, the obnoxious personal "body guards" who block the way of residents so some here-today-gone-tomorrow-Disney-15-minutes-of-famer can feel self-important as they climb into their Escalade.
Liver-tosser, I think I love you.
A hearty round of applause to the courageous efforts of neighborhood residents. As long as formal complaints to the city continue to fall on deaf ears the only way to fight back is through such creative direct action. Please, please, please keep showering the invaders with whatever assorted debris you choose.
As a born and bred New Yorker now surviving in Florida and very homesick I can't thank you all enough for the pictures, stories, etc. of my home town. It is wonderful to know NY is still the unique wonderful place it was in my youth.
Where else can you get almost any type of food you want 24/7 and sometimes a show to go along with it.
At the famed Hotel Chelsea on 23rd Street (where permanent tenants mix about half and half with 'temp' guests), there are credible reports of at least two violent attacks on residents committed by 'bouncers' employed by a nightclub in the hotel's basement, The Star Lounge, currently owned by self-proclaimed hipster Charles Ferri.
According to these reports, Ferri has been using his bouncer staff to intimidate tenants living upstairs on behalf of the Hotel's minority shareholders who've been bombarded by Rent Stabilization suits after firing the Hotel's beloved manager Stanley Bard sometime last year. Many residents lived without Rent Stabilization for years but began enforcing their renancy rights after Bard was ousted. Apparently violence is the path the Hotel management has chosen to deal with tenants who refuse to give up Rent Stabilized apartments, and the Star Lounge has been assisting them in that effort.
usefully to Breguet watches and replica Breguet watches made with swiss movement ! so cheap and high quality ! accept paypal ,and 14 days money back without reason !
WELCOME!When you have kal geons, you had many things to do! If you had kal gold, you had your own equips. You can brush kal online geons when you upgrading! They always have kal online gold, because it is useful for us! If you have less kalonline Geons, you must have your own goods by upgrade!