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Read the press release here.

La Marina Liquor License Recommended by CB12

By Carla Zanoni | March 28, 2012 6:20pm

INWOOD — Despite growing community concern regarding a new 1,000-seat restaurant at the Dyckman Marina, Community Board 12 has voted to recommend the State Liquor Authority approve La Marina’s liquor license application. 

After several minutes of debate the board voted 22 to 14 in favor, with one abstention.

Residents said they were outraged that the city would allow a restaurant complex that large on Dyckman Street, an area that has become well known for both its popular restaurants and quality-of-life problems. 

Community members said they are worried about noise, traffic and a generally diminished quality of life on the Dyckman Street corridor, between Broadway and the Hudson River. 

The restaurant — previously presented as a seasonal establishment — will be open all year. 

"We are the community. You should be protecting our interests," Inwood resident Katie Weaver said. “Allowing people to make millions of dollars at the expense of thousands of people here is horrendous.”

Owners of La Marina restaurant, which is part of the Manhattan River Group, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting but told community members earlier this month that the scale of the restaurant complex is in line with other establishments of its kind. 

"The community wanted a place like this," Tenenbaum said during CB12’s economic development committee meeting on March 7. "It is limited compared to other establishments like this."

By way of comparison, restaurants such as the River Café in Brooklyn can seat approximately 125 people and the Hudson River Café in Harlem can seat 260. The 79th Street Boat Basin, which is also a Parks Department concession, seats approximately 200 people in the seasonal space. Roseland Ballroom has a seating capacity of 800-1,000 people and a dancing capacity of 3,500.

Although the community board voted to recommend the license application, the State Liquor Authority will have a final say as the board serves only an advisory role.