A soon-to-open shuffleboard bar will bring the old folks’ game back to Brooklyn — but neighbors of the sprawling Gowanus venue fear the kitschy sport will come hand in hand with loud parties and inebriated revelers.
The owners behind the planned watering hole the Royal Palms hope to open a grocery-store sized venue featuring regulation-length courts, a full bar, and live music on Union Street near Third Avenue early next year.
But some residents are already fighting the proposal, saying the too-big space will turn the quiet block into booze-soaked hub for loud hipster game players that is anything but grandparent-approved.
“This is a nice quiet neighborhood [but] you’re gonna bring a lot of drunk people around here,” said neighbor Joe Padilla. “When business starts blowing up, it’s gonna get real dirty.”
Other residents posted fliers featuring an image of a crossed-out martini glass in protest of the venue, an action first reported by the blog Brownstoner.
The duo behind the Royal Palms say the size and crowd-drawing potential for the club is less daunting than neighbors think, considering how much room is dedicated to lanes for the game.
More than half of the 17,000-square-foot space is reserved for shuffleboard courts, said co-owner Ashley Albert.
“It’s not going to be a big scary club,” Albert said.
Albert first announced she and a partner would re-purpose the Gowanus building to make a Florida-inspired bar with lounge music, bingo, and episodes of “The Love Boat” on TV in May.
She says she has met with neighbors to discuss concerns and hopes to open the club by February.
“It was just a small group of people who didn’t understand how important it is to us to be good neighbors,” she said.
— with Alfred Ng
Reach reporter Natalie O'Neill at noneill@cnglocal.com or by calling her at (718) 260-4505.
