By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — When noise complaints on Dyckman Street reached a fever pitch this summer, elected officials began working with restaurant owners so that they could keep making money without depriving their neighbors of a good night’s sleep.
But one restaurant seems reluctant to play by the new rules.
City Councilman Robert Jackson, whose district encompasses the Dyckman Street area west of Broadway, began meeting with restaurant owners to ask them to reduce sidewalk cafe hours and work on better business practices for the neighborhood, and many of them agreed.
As a result, popular — some say too popular — restaurants Mamajuana and Papasito have reduced their outdoor hours of operation by one hour, closing the outdoor seating at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Some said the reduced hours have resulted in a quieter Dyckman Street area.
"We still have a ways to go, but a few of these places have gotten better," 43-year-old William Meyers, who lives nearby on Dyckman Street, said.
But when a representative from Jackson’s office met with Il Sole owner Sandra Jaquez to discuss adopting a similar policy on Thursday, she reportedly said adopting the shorter hours would bring on economic hardship.
Il Sole’s management did not respond to requests for comment.
"I support small business and don’t want to hurt any small businesses, but we have reached an agreement with other establishments regarding operating hours at sidewalk cafes and want to do the same with Il Sole," Jackson said at the full Community Board 12 meeting on Tuesday.
Jackson said he would only support the board’s vote in favor of renewing the restaurant’s liquor license if Il Sole complied with his proposed changes.
Jackson’s office says it will continue to meet with the owners of Il Sole to broker a deal and will meet with other restaurants along the strip as their liquor license applications come up for renewal.
