By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Pink Elephant, once a ritzy Chelsea nightclub staple that's trying to reopen on the far West Side, will face Community Board 4 Wednesday night for final approval of its liquor license application.
Owners David Sarner and Robert Montwaid won the approval of the board's liquor license committee last month, but only after members heard a litany of complaints and concerns from neighborhood residents, luxury developers and business and gallery owners.
At Wednesday night's full board meeting, the final step before CB4 offers its recommendation tot he State Liquor Authority, opponents will have one more chance to weigh in.
Then CB4 will vote on the merits of Pink Elephant's reentry into a 20,000-plus square foot property formerly occupied by the notorious M2 Ultra Lounge, closed down by the city in April following allegations of violence, drug use and dealing and illegal cigarette sales.
Sarner and Montwaid, who also operate offshoots in Brazil and the Hamptons, shuttered Pink Elephant's former home, on the West 27th Street side of the very same building, in fall 2009 because they feared worsening reputations of neighboring clubs would harm their brand.
But while opponents argued at the Oct. 13 meeting that the new club's capacity — approximately 3,000 persons, down from 10,000 at the former space, which Sarner and Montwaid agreed to limit to 2,300 — was too big given the block's troubled history, committee members lent their unanimous support.
They cited not only Pink Elephant's good reputation, but also the fact that nightclubs were on the block long before the upscale condos and many businesses.
"I wouldn't move to the Everglades and complain about the alligators,"committee member Maria "Sandy" Roldos said last month.
Community Board 4 will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, 1000 Tenth Avenue.
