Controversial Ridge club 93 Lounge may lose its booze after hearings this week — following years of complaints from neighbors about late-night mayhem and a New Year’s Eve incident where a drunk driver mowed down four revelers on the sidewalk in front of the establishment.
The nightspot on 93rd Street between Third and Fourth avenues stands accused of a massive backlog of charges dating back to 2010, ranging from lying in its liquor license application and allowing brawling inside its doors to serving liquor out of mismarked bottles and making illegal renovations to its premises — echoing long-standing objections from neighbors and Community Board 10, both of which have repeatedly called for state action.
CB10 Police and Public Safety Committee Chair Fran Vella-Marrone — whose panel twice disapproved 93 Lounge’s liquor license application, only to see the state grant the permit anyway — said she was glad to see a response from the agency, but wondered why it had taken so long.
“From my perspective, there appears to be some kind of disconnect between what we know is a problem and what the State Liquor Authority does,” said Vella-Marrone. “I hope in their wisdom they see how much of a detriment this is to the surrounding community and resolve the issue once and for all.”
Ted Moustakas, a resident of the block, agreed.
“The neighborhood is really fed up with this place,” Moustakas said. “They need to revoke that license.”
CB10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann will testify before the state board on March 7, and said she intends to repeat the many complaints she’s heard from residents in the area — many of whom have said they live in fear of the bar and its patrons.
“People have said that their quality of life has been negatively affected by 93 Lounge,” said Beckmann
Lounge co-owner Ron Coury Sr. hung up on us when we called for comment, but liquor authority spokesman Bill Crowley said that the club’s attorneys had entered a not-guilty plea to all charges, any one of which would be sufficient to yank the liquor license.
But 93 Lounge may be able to keep partying on even if the agency decides the reams of accusations are true: the state found Dyker karaoke joint Crown KTV — also the subject of neighborhood rage — guilty of similar charges in April 2012, but let the watering hole off with a $37,000 fine.
Reach reporter Will Bredderman at wbredderman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4507. Follow him at twitter.com/WillBredderman.
