BY DENNIS LYNCH | Around two dozen community members met on the afternoon of Wed., Dec. 7, to levy their complaints with a pair of representatives from the State Liquor Authority (SLA) investigators over the conduct of patrons, staff, and the owners of Il Bastardo (191 Seventh Ave., btw. W. 21st & W. 22nd Sts.), in a bid to convince the business to clean up its act.
The Council of Chelsea Block Associations (CCBA) convened the gathering two days before the SLA will meet to discuss three incidents from earlier this year, including when patrons severely beat and stabbed a man on the corner of Seventh Ave. and W. 21st St. following an altercation after leaving Il Bastardo.
Neighbors accused the owners of Il Bastardo of running a de facto bar, but masquerading as a restaurant. They shared stories of finding passed out patrons on their front steps, of watching seemingly underage patrons leaving the restaurant highly intoxicated, of large and loud crowds, and of fights outside the restaurant. Many said Il Bastardo’s popular weekend all-day brunches spurred the most issues.
“If anyone wants to see this for themselves on weekend they should come during brunch time; they can witness it themselves,” said longtime local resident Andrew, who wished not to use his full name.
Many accused management of disregarding stipulations that Il Bastardo’s general manager Sherif Ibrahim agreed to in front of Community Board 4’s Quality of Life committee exactly a year prior to Wednesday’s gathering.
Ibrahim agreed to end the all-you-can-drink promotions to curb overdrinking, but locals shared advertisements dating from 2016 for such promotions. Two Yelp reviews dating from after the agreement also cite the all-you-can-drink deal. He agreed to keep the sidewalk reasonably clear of patrons, but photos dating from 2016 show large crowds outside in front of Il Bastardo and neighboring businesses.
One woman shared a photo of a group of people gathered around a man lying on the ground, who she said was knocked out cold in a fight outside the restaurant. A man who owns a business nearby said two inebriated patrons who left Il Bastardo sat down against the large glass window in front of his store, breaking it in the process.
Lauren Gill, who lives in an apartment with her family above Il Bastardo, said she often deals with blaring music coming through her floorboards, even though Ibrahim agreed to keep music to levels low enough not to be heard outside. She recalled less-than-desirable encounters with patrons when she and her family leave their apartment on the weekends.
“What do I say to my son when I’m walking into my building and there’s a girl spread eagle on the sidewalk trying to open a bottle of champagne and he’s asking me ‘Mom, what is she doing?’” Gill asked.
An SLA investigator in attendance, Bart Jaworski, admitted that he did not expect such a large group of complainants, and urged locals to document their experiences going forward with Il Bastardo in as specific detail as possible. He then gathered specific testimonies from those who could provide exact dates for them. General anecdotes usually do not pass muster with the judge who reviews SLA cases, he said.
He and representatives with the nearby 10th Precinct (230 W. 230 W. 20th St., btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.) reiterated that it can take many months or years to shut down a restaurant, and told community members to be vigilant moving forward. CCBA president Bill Borock said that learning exactly how to properly levy complaints with the SLA was a step in the right direction, and said he’d share that information with all nearby block associations.
“You can’t just have a complaint and think that the place is going to be closed down or have their liquor license taken away,” Borock said. “What’s important is they brought statement forms and a bunch of people actually did give statements that can be used in the future. This is an ongoing process, and it becomes like building blocks — you put one on top of the other.”
