By Brooke Edwards
For residents living above the nightclub 46 Grand, life has been anything but.
Kevin Solomon, a resident at 46 Grand St. in Soho, said he and his family are kept awake every Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m. by loud music from the club. The other week, it happened on Wednesday night, too.
“And I live on the fourth floor,” he said. “So you can imagine what it is like for the people living on the second and third floors.”
Solomon has lived in the building on and off for the last decade and has seen several different venues come and go at the site. Before becoming 46 Grand, the site was a sake bar called Denial. But Solomon said the latest transformation is causing by far the most disturbance, particularly since the club removed the insulation from the ceiling when they remodeled.
On a visit to 46 Grand on a recent Friday night, the crowd was mellow but the music played at a typical loud club volume. A staff member said there was no manager available that night to discuss the issue of neighbors’ complaints. Managers at 46 Grand did not respond to repeated calls for comment for this article.
Solomon has made complaints to 311 about the noise, and said other building residents have done the same. Residents have also made repeated complaints to the building’s landlord, whom Solomon says “is doing nothing.” When one resident confronted an employee at the club, Solomon said it ended in a fistfight.
After exhausting these resources and getting no response, Solomon attended this month’s First Precinct Community Council meeting and presented his case.
Robert Gould, community council president, advised Solomon to join forces with the other residents and get a lawyer. Gould, a lawyer himself, said they have a valid case against their landlord since they are not receiving “full use and enjoyment” of their apartments.
Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, First Precinct commander, encouraged Solomon to report future disturbances directly to the precinct, since police can only take action while the noise is occurring. When Solomon expressed his frustration at the ongoing problem, Bologna said, “It’s hard to get them [the State Liquor Authority] to take away a liquor license.”
Rick Lee, First Precinct community affairs officer, said they have responded to complaints about excessive noise at the site before and promised to look into the issue further.
Last Wednesday, in a phone interview, Lee said, “We are monitoring it.” He said officers had gone by 46 Grand that weekend, but didn’t observe any disturbances.
