BY JACKSON CHEN | Community Board 8 has once again disapproved a liquor license renewal for a First Avenue bar widely thought of as a bad neighbor to nearby residents.
La Nuit Restaurant at , between East 62nd and 63rd Streets, defines itself on its website as a “tapas bar, restaurant, and hookah lounge in its swanky two story space.”
But in discussion about the establishment’s application for a renewal of its liquor license, due to expire on March 31, residents and CB8 members offered a starkly different view, with neighbors complaining of pools of vomit outside, frequent fights, and harassment from drunk patrons out on the street.
The board unanimously voted against a license renewal.
“This place is a real blight on the community,” said one First Avenue resident. “If you had it in your neighborhood, you’d be as passionate as the people who live around it. It’s dangerous and has complete disregard for neighbors and residents.”
According to testimony from several other neighbors at the CB8 full board meeting on March 15, La Nuit is a constant beacon drawing police activity. Local residents’ accounts ranged from seeing fights break out on the street in the middle of the night to witnessing seemingly intoxicated bar patrons leaving, getting in their cars, and driving away.
On February 25, police said, a 26-year-old man was stabbed in the side of his body with a knife after trying to break up a fight outside La Nuit. There have been no arrests, according to the NYPD.
At the CB8 meeting, a resident of 405 East 63rd Street testified that on March 12 when she was on her way home police who were stationed nearby offered to walk her past a large crowd gathered outside La Nuit. Others mentioned that local businesses have also escorted neighbors past the bar on their way home on weekends.
March 15 was not the first time a bar operating out of 1134 First Avenue has been in front of CB8 for renewal of the current State Liquor Authority (SLA) license. La Nuit, owned by “S and M Lounge Corp,” was represented by attorney Charles Wertman at CB8’s Street Life Committee meeting on March 7. But in December, an establishment named Lava NYC and owned by “EL NASR USA Group LLC,” was before the committee for liquor license renewal, and was also denied.
“La Nuit or Lava or whatever it’s calling itself these days… this restaurant is not a service to the community,” said Judy Schneider, co-president of the East Sixties Neighborhood Association. “It brings in people by promoters, not people from the neighborhood.”
Schneider added that while the representative of La Nuit said the bar was willing to offer concessions, like only being open from Friday to Sunday, the application to the SLA would allow for the sale of liquor seven days a week.
On March 20, after CB8’s vote, State Senator Liz Krueger penned a letter to SLA chair Vincent Bradley voicing “serious concerns about the impacts of this establishment on the surrounding area.”
Krueger also wrote, “La Nuit has significantly diminished the safety and quality of life of residents in the surrounding area. My office, Manhattan Community Board 8, and the 19th Police Precinct have all received numerous complaints from local residents about problems caused by the establishment.”
In her letter, the senator noted that bar patrons have been arrested for two assault felonies involving knives, reckless endangerment, a robbery, and a radio being thrown at a moving police vehicle. She added that there have been 154 complaints regarding La Nuit, according to the city’s 311 data.
With the La Nuit license set to expire within days, the SLA has yet not made a decision on its renewal. William Crowley, a spokesperson for the SLA, said that most renewals are simple administrative functions and unless there’s something serious, like arrests or pending violations, most businesses get their renewals.
Representatives for La Nuit couldn’t be reached for comment.
