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State Licenses and Permits
Glass Ceiling Events, LLC, d.b.a “The Glass Ceiling”, 1204 Broadway (Between 29th and 30th Streets), New York, NY, application for a new liquor license
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, December 12, 2019, the following resolution passed with a vote of 37 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, GLASS CEILING EVENTS LLC ("Applicant"), has notified Community Board Five of its intention to apply for a new liquor license for a rooftop bar/lounge/event space to be located at 1204 Broadway (between 29th and 30th Streets) New York, New York (the "Premises"); and
WHEREAS, The Premises consists of approximately 3,761 square feet of space on the rooftop of a four (4) story building, immediately adjacent to a residential building; and
WHEREAS, The entirety of the space is outdoors, on a rooftop (the “Rooftop”) above the fourth floor of the building; and
WHEREAS, The Premises would consist of completely unenclosed outdoor space as well as outdoor space enclosed by a glass structure having sliding doors on the outside and a retractable roof; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 85% of the Rooftop would be enclosed by the glass structure and approximately 15% of the rooftop would be completely unenclosed; and
WHEREAS, The total capacity of the Premises is 74 persons, with table seating capacity of 64 and bar seating capacity of 10; and
WHEREAS, The Premises would include one (1) patron bar and no service bars; and
WHEREAS, The Premises would be open seven days a week, 11am-1am Sunday through Wednesday, and 11am-2am Thursday through Saturday; and
WHEREAS, The Premises, which has never been licensed to serve liquor, is new construction and is subject to the 500 Foot Rule of the ABC Law; and
WHEREAS, Immediately adjacent to, abutting, and overlooking the Rooftop is a residential building located at 1200 Broadway, with residences and their windows located mere feet from the Rooftop (see photo); and
WHEREAS, Plans for operation of the Premises include occupancy by as many as 74 patrons, amplified speakers for music, and at times a DJ; and
WHEREAS, Although Applicant would be willing to (i) close the sliding doors and roof of the glass structure and close the un-enclosable areas of the Rooftop at 10pm Sunday through Wednesday and 11pm Thursday through Saturday, and (ii) not have speakers on the exterior unenclosed space (outside of the glass structure), nonetheless, those concessions are not sufficient and cannot make this proposed use of the Rooftop acceptable because the space is just too close to the residential windows; and
WHEREAS, The adjacent residential building engaged a sound engineer who issued a report stating that noise from the adjacent proposed bar/lounge venue on the top floor of 1204 Broadway would cause sound disturbance to the residential building and that the HVAC equipment on the roof is already in violation of the NYC Noise Code; and
WHEREAS, Although Applicant provided their own sound engineering report with recommendations about how music within the glass enclosure can be mitigated to levels at or below the NYC Noise Code, music is not the only concern regarding this operation and the report does not address patron noise, or sound from the unenclosed portions of the Rooftop, or sound at times when the glass enclosure is open; and
WHEREAS, Even if the glass enclosure could mitigate sound, such mitigation would only be effective when the structure was completely closed and the un-enclosable portions of the Rooftop were vacated, leaving the adjacent residences uninhabitable the rest of the time; and
WHEREAS, Even if the glass enclosure could mitigate sound and even if the un-enclosable portions of the Rooftop were vacated, any proposed bar/lounge/event operation on a rooftop so immediately adjacent to residential windows is insupportable because of the very close proximity; and
WHEREAS, Even if we accept the Applicant’s proposed concessions and give the applicant the benefit of every doubt about the glass enclosure, because of the location of the Rooftop mere feet away from residential windows, there is no way the Rooftop can be operated as a bar/lounge/event space without significantly and unreasonably imposing on the residents adjacent to the space; and
WHEREAS, Residents of the neighboring building and representatives of the 29th Street Association, the local community organization, have voiced strenuous objection to the licensing of the Rooftop; and
WHEREAS, Although CB5 strives to balance the interests of residents and businesses in the district, in this case, the huge potential for negative impact on the adjacent residents cannot be balanced against a rooftop bar in such close proximity to the residences; and
WHEREAS, Although CB5 opposes the location of a rooftop bar at the Premises, CB5 would be willing to work with the Applicant on options other than licensing the Rooftop, for example licensing portions of the interior four (4) floors of the building; and
WHEREAS, Because of the location of the Rooftop Premises immediately adjacent to residential windows, CB5 finds that granting a liquor license for the Premises is NOT in the public interest; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends denial of the application by GLASS CEILING EVENTS, LLC for a new liquor license for the rooftop bar/lounge/event space to be located at 1204 Broadway (between 29th and 30th Streets) New York, New York.