By Sarina Trangle
Vacant factories and liquor licenses are a toxic cocktail, as Community Board 5 sees it.
CB 5, which covers Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, unanimously voted against a second application for a 600-person-plus liquor license within a year, Chairman Vincent Arcuri Jr. said.
Justin Carter, a disc jockey known for the roving dance parties called Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday, submitted paperwork seeking a license to serve beer and wine to 600 or more patrons at 56-06 Cooper Ave. The document notes the unnamed venue may feature recorded music, live music, DJs, dancing and a bar. It is described as a seasonal establishment with garden grounds.
A man who identified himself as Carter, then later his assistant declined to comment on plans for the Ridgewood property.
Paul Kerzner, counsel for the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association, said the building was last used as a factory and ill-equipped to host revelers.
“It doesn’t have the basic hygienic needs there. There are not enough bathrooms,” he said. “It’s shameful that people like this would actually try to hold these things… it would be totally irresponsible.”
Neither Carter nor others involved with the application showed up at CB 5, Kerzner said.
Cooper Street Holdings, and its agent, Brooklyn developer Joseph Brunner, purchased the property for $4.675 million last September, city property records show.
It has not submitted paperwork for construction work since, according to the city Department of Buildings website.
The real estate company did not return calls for comment.
CB 5 spent months fighting plans to transform a shuttered Maspeth glass factory into the Knockdown Center, an arts organization with licenses to host up to 5,000 and serve liquor. It argued the venue would strain the police precinct and disrupt nearby neighbors. The slate Liquor Authority denied the Knockdown Center’s application in May.
But both Arcuri and Kerzner say the western Queens neighborhood’s stock of unused manufacturing sites, proximity to the L and M trains and low crime rates are sure to continue to attract night life businesses.
“I’m sure this is not the last time we’re going to be hit with this,” Kerzner said. “This kind of fly-by-night operation is occurring in many parts of the city where there are vacancies… Promoters just rent it for a couple of hours or a couple of days and they make a couple of big bucks.”
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
