Crime continues to remain low in Williamsburg, though many residents feel under siege from excessive noise and late-night rowdiness from local bars and restaurants in the neighborhood.
Concern over noise reached its apex Wednesday night, October 20, at a Community Board 1 meeting (211 Ainslie Street) as two dozen Williamsburg residents spoke out against the prevalence of bars along Grand and Metropolitan Avenues before a pending vote on a liquor license application at 644 Driggs Avenue.
“I think we’ve gotten away from the families being raised in Williamsburg,” said Williamsburg resident Luis Santiago, at a CB1 meeting. “I’m sure the intentions are all good, but when do we put a stop to these establishments serving alcohol? It’s not easy dealing with this rowdiness on a daily basis.”
While the community board approved the liquor license 17-14, residents persisted during the meeting’s public session period noting other noise complaints.One man, representing ten residents in a building on South 1st Street off Bedford chastised the restaurant on the ground floor below for having a raucous crowd in its courtyard, while another man, James Barron, complained about a nearby bar which he says has done little to curb noise levels at night.
“I need your help,” said Barron. “I’m from England but I’ve lived here 17 years. The guy who owns the bar doesn’t live in the community and the people he serves doesn’t live in this community either.”
At a 90th Precinct Community Council meeting, Deputy Inspector Michael Kemper noted that major crime statistics continue to drop.
For the past year, crime complaints are down 9.97 percent, with the major shifts including a 25.4 percent drop in robberies and a decrease of 20.8 percent in grand larcenies.Over the last month, felony assaults were up 53.8 percent compared with last year (20 in 2009 compared with 13 in 2008) while grand larcenies were down 38.9 percent (33 in 2009 from 54 in 2008).
When asked about the blocks surrounding Driggs and Metropolitan Avenue, where Custom Wine Bar will likely be moving in, Kemper reported that there have been no crime incidents over the past two years.
“That doesn’t mean nothing happened on that block,” said Kemper.“That area in particular, Driggs, Metropolitan and Grand, in the last few years is in a transition and it’s an area we pay particular attention to.It’s an area we constantly patrol.If something becomes a neighborhood nuisance, we’ll dedicate resources to correct it.”
Many residents who opposed Custom’s liquor license application at the Community Board meeting pointed to the prevalence of bars opening on Grand Street as contributing negatively to Williamsburg’s reputation as a restaurant and bar destination.
CB1 member Susan Albrecht, who voted against the bar’s application, felt that the establishment should have accommodated the community more concerning the hours they were open.
“I’m not against restaurants or bars, but there is an overarching issue that we have to look at saturation levels for bars and restaurants and how that is impacting the residential community,” said Albrecht.
Other Community Board members, including Monsignor Joseph Calise, father of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (275 North Eighth Street, Williamsburg), who voted for the bar, acknowledged that noise issues must be better enforced, though he felt that Custom Wine bar was being singled out.
“To say that there is problem in the neighborhood is true, but that doesn’t mean that these guys, who for all appearances want to open a very respectable place, should pay the price for people’s mistakes,” said Calise.
For more information, or to register noise complaints and other non-emergencies in the 90th Precinct, call Detective Bruno Vidal or Officer Juan Roman at (718) 963-5309 or 311.
