A shuttered Bay Ridge Karaoke club with a history of violence will re-open as a new sing-along spot — with the blessing of Community Board 10’s Police and Public Safety Committee.
Committee members voted to approve a liquor license for Good World Inc., which wants to open in the same 62nd Street address that once held the notorious V Lounge.
The karaoke joint between Eighth and Ninth avenues had been the site of five stabbings, a brawl between a group of Asians and two black men, illegal drug use, illegal indoor smoking, and rampant underage drinking since 2007, according to cops, the State Liquor Authority and Board members.
The V Lounge was so violent and disruptive that the city suspended its liquor license last October.
Unable to sell alcohol — which is imperative in a business where one’s desire to sing in public is directly proportional to how intoxicated they are — the V Lounge closed.
Neil Visoky, Good World’s attorney, told committee members that the new club will be a law-abiding business that has no connection to the V Lounge — even though he does.
Last year, Visoky represented Xiu Qin Li, who took over the V Lounge and tried to tell CB10 that she was going to run a respectable establishment. The Board flatly rejected the claim.
Visoky said Li has no connection to Good World Inc., which he says will soundproof the establishment, keep a constant security presence and always have a manager on site.
“I know this property has a terrible past, but this business model makes me think this is going to be a great new establishment,” Visoky said.
CB10 has taken a hardline approach against bars in the past year — and most recently tried to get the city to shut down Crown KTV, a similar Karaoke spot many call a den of violence and underage drinking.
But, this time around, the committee agreed with Visoky as long as Good World Inc. doesn’t deviate from its business plan.
“Good World Inc. has addressed all of our concerns,” committee Chairman George Fontas said.
