By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — A Puerto Rican restaurant in TriBeCa that draws frequent noise complaints is accusing its neighbors of discrimination.
Genaro Morales, owner of the Sazon bar and eatery on Reade Street, is suing his local community board and other government agencies for $50 million after they turned down his request for an additional bar and a later closing time.
"I've had nothing but heartache," Morales said at a press conference on City Hall steps Tuesday morning. "It's amazing that discrimination still exists."
Morales' lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday, accuses Community Board 1, the State Liquor Authority and the city of discriminating against Sazon because it serves Puerto Rican food and draws a minority clientele. Neighbors who complained about noise from the establishment did so because they are racist, Morales said.
Community Board 1 members said race had nothing to do with it.
"Our actions were based on the fact that [Morales] has not lived up to the promises he made to us, and on the volume of neighbor complaints," said Peter Braus, chairman of CB1's Tribeca Committee. "Sazon received the same consideration as every other establishment."
Morales, a retired NYPD officer who also owns Sofrito on E. 57th Street, applied for a liquor license for Sazon in 2009 and promised the community board he would not have live music, dancing or a DJ.
But soon after the venue opened, neighbors complained about noisy dance parties that spilled out onto the street, clogging the sidewalk and making it impossible for them to sleep.
Morales agreed to add soundproofing and shut his windows at 7 p.m., but the complaints continued.
After hearing from concerned CB1 members, the State Liquor Authority sent an inspector to Sazon last December and slammed Morales with a $5,000 fine for having a DJ, dancing and an illegal second bar in the basement, according to the lawsuit.
Morales then returned to CB1 earlier this year to ask for the following changes to his liquor license: to legalize the additional bar, add a DJ and dancing and to extend his closing time from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.
The board responded with an unequivocal "no," telling Morales that he had to follow the stipulations of his original license before they would consider changing it.
"They have violated their license in every possible way," said Jeff Ehrlich, a CB1 member. "It was based on their behavior."
Morales is asking for $25 million in compensatory damages for the money he lost because of the restrictions and $25 million in punitive damages. In the lawsuit, he said neighbors who stopped by Sazon frequently made racist comments.
A spokeswoman for the city's Law Department said they had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit. A spokesman for the State Liquor Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
