Brooklyn shuffleboard enthusiasts will have to hold their biscuits a bit longer, following a contentious Community Board 6 meeting on Monday night.
In response to neighborhood concerns regarding noise, crowds, security, and loitering, owners temporarily withdrew their liquor license application in order to revise the game plan.
"We feel the presence of this huge club will totally overwhelm the neighborhood and make it unlivable," said Michael Levin, who spoke on behalf of neighborhood residents and presented a petition including .
Royal Palms owners Jonathan Schnapp and Ashley Albert withdrew their application after a motion to have a capacity of 300 (pared down from just under 500), shuttle service from their location to public transit and vegetal soundproofing on the roof was going to be overwhelmingly denied by the committee.
The size and capacity of the 17,000-square-foot space at 514 Union Street in Gowanus, combined with the owners lack of experience in the hospitality industry, fueled most of the debate throughout the evening. Also in question was the ambience of the club and whether it would leave masses of rowdy, drunken loiterers roaming the streets.
Schnapp told board members they want the place to "evoke the feeling of 1970s Florida" and to "keep the spirit of shuffleboard alive." They plan on creating shuffleboard leagues and bingo nights, want to have weddings and bar mitvahs, kids birthday parties and live music a few nights a week, which he described as a guy with a banjo, "not Jane's Addiction.
"We're definitely not going to be the ," he said in an attempt to differentiate themselves. "We're not looking to be Brooklyn Bowl."
Albert echoed that sentiment. "We see it as a place that can be a community center for all ages," she said, noting that the couple intends for the Royal Palms to be a "relaxed and mellow place."
One supporter, Kimberly Wetherell, a President St. resident in Park Slope, spoke to the gentle nature of the game and likened it to the Mirror Lake Club in St. Petersburg, Florida which was used in the movie Cocoon.
"It's oddly quiet," she said. "You hear a shoosh and click. It's a very gentle sport. It can only be a boon for the community. Thirty-five-year residents can go with their grandkids."
"17,000 sq feet is a scary amount of space and we understand that," Schnapp continued, but reminded board members that 7,000 square feet would be dedicated to shuffleboard courts.
He also stated that the pair are looking for a GM with "double digit" years of experience to manage the venue, as well as two security guards: one for ID checks and another for general security on the block.
But residents were not persuaded.
"It's the alcohol," said neighbor Rosemary Gomez. "You don't need the liquor license to have shuffleboard." Gomez also mentioned that with the recent opening of the , as well as a new beer hall on St. Marks, "the police are not going to be there" to keep loiterers in check.
In the end, the committee felt there were "too many negatives in this project," as one member put it. Another said, "I don't think this fits. I think it's too big and will change the community."
But before board members could lay down their final vote, Schnapp and Albert withdrew their application. They will return to the drawing board and try again next month with an amended proposal.
"I'm disappointed," Schnapp told Patch afterward. "I'm still hoping we can come to an understanding with our neighbors. We're just trying to open a shuffleboard club. We'll keep working to come up with solutions that they're comfortable with."
Not serving alcohol, as Gomez suggested, was simply impossible from a revenue standpoint, the owners said.
Albert stated that the Royal Palms requires a liquor license in order to make it a viable business and she left undeterred: "For our neighbors, their solution is for us not to open. That's not an option."
(I hardly know these two and have met them once, I just think it's good for Gowanus, who needs as much help as it can get!) This is a great idea and the neighborhood would certainly benefit. The street is blighted and depressing and this would really bring life to it. It's shocking to hear their concerns and then actually see where the shuffleboard - SHUFFLEBOARD - club is located. They should be clamoring for such a place, but a bunch of anti-progress change-fearers are worried about 500 people barfing in their flower pots. Get real. It's not Mardi Gras. In these economic times, it's a shame to squash job-creating enterprises that will pump money in to the local economy and increase safety in the neighborhood. They spoke about crime...know what REALLY prevents crime? (not lack of alcohol) it's lack of jobs and lack of something to do and depressed environs. Gowanus is growing and starting to thrive and they are just going to have to embrace that and be happy something fun for all ages wants to grace their block, that frankly, could use a coat of paint and some vibrance.
I roll my eyes at them, too in their skinny jeans and vintage, campy what nots, but they also are a huge part of building the future, not keeping us in the past. Bay Ridge is thattaway, Anthony.
this isn't about hipsters, and it would be short-sighted to reduce it to that. it's about gentrification, urban renewal and change. what would this neighborhood be without Frankies (or Patois, for that matter)? they were called hipsters and outsiders and yet, to many, Frankies put this neighborhood on the map and helped set in motion a lot of positive changes. of course, not all of the changes are good. do we need another Buschenshank or another Momofuku? : ) i'm not hugely in favor of the Royal Palms's plans, but i don't see how a strong dislike for hipsters provides any reason for rejecting their proposal, especially since the business would most likely improve their immediate surroundings. i've never heard of any civil unrest erupting out of a shuffleboard match. dialogue is a lot better than derision.
But on a deeper level I think they fear what we all fear: death. To them, this club represents displacement from their homes. To them, this club represents a progress in which they were not asked to participate. It represents their obsolescence. People are going to fight against that. It's human nature. BUT the residents are anticipating the worst sort of behavior from the patrons. Is there going to be noise? Sometimes, yes. Will there be people drinking late? Probably! Are these people going to be raping and looting and smashing windshields? Hardly. The kind of patrons this club will attract are GOOD CITIZENS, ones that are civilized, creative, educated, and ethical. These are the people who have been forging the new Brooklyn, one that is thriving, friendly, communal. These people are fueled by ingenuity and positivity (and organic coffee). If this club is successful, more like-minded people will open new businesses and Gowanus will be REBORN.
more muggings, break-ins, unprovoked assaults on women... but, in my opinion, these crimes are happening city wide and are related to two conditions: the general decline of the u.s. economy (even though NYC has handled it pretty well) while it's also directly connected to a trend pointing to the increased use of smart phones (iphones, androids, etc). as i'm sure you've noticed, the targets of most of the muggings are folks on their phones as they exit the subway stations. are those folks necessarily hipsters? my landlord is 65 years old, fourth generation italian from the neighborhood, and he walks around with an android... the use of smart phones is widespread in carroll gardens. the rate of late night crime in the neighborhood is probably consistent with previous summers (when they always go up) and i imagine that we will see an increase in muggings in the area around the royal palms (should they be allowed to open) during the late hours. since we know that this is likely, then we also know that we can prevent it from happening: better street lighting, more police patrols, but most importantly, we can educate each other to put the damn phone away while walking home at night, thereby increasing your awareness of your surroundings and reducing your risk of being a crime victim. : )
Oh, so these crimes are happening city wide in 2012? OK. I agree with you. Now, earlier you said back in the 1990s, you would get mugged in Carroll Gardens. Well guess what, muggings were also a city wide problem in 1990. In fact, these will always be a problem when you live in a city with 10 million people. So, my question still remains unanswered, how have hipsters made Carroll Gardens safe? In general, how have they made this place better to live?
Hipsters have actually helped increase they crime in PS/Gowanus they walk around clueless with iPods and iPhones leaving doors and windows open, leaving cars parked for days on end in the same spot getting broken into, leaving window shades open for all to see what they have. Its on the Patch all the time in the police blotter if you have more than one Apple Laptop stolen from your apartment you're a hipster, if you leave cameras and computer equipment in your car for three days and find it broken into you're a hipster, if you go to a bar and leave you purse alone on a chair next to the door with you iPhone on the table and come back and its gone you're a hipster.
If that's not enough, shall I point you to the direction of the other police blotter items about countless muggings and robberies in broad daylight?
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs076pct.pdf