Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Community Board Rejects Lumus Bar and Grill's Liquor License Amid Outcry

By Nigel Chiwaya | November 27, 2013 3:14pm
 Residents are opposed to a liquor license at 5060 Broadway because they say the location has a history of violence.
Residents are opposed to a liquor license at 5060 Broadway because they say the location has a history of violence.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Nigel Chiwaya

INWOOD — A restaurant and lounge proposed for a spot that has been the source of a violence in the past got the thumbs down from Community Board 12 Tuesday, during a raucous meeting that attracted scores of angry neighbors.

Lumus Bar and Grill, a 300-person restaurant that is slated to open on 215th Street and Broadway, will cause noise and traffic issues in the area and potentially violence, neighbors complained.

The 34th precinct and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez have both opposed Lumus owner Maria Rodriguez's application for a liquor license for the restaurant, pointing to the fact that the location has been the site of two murders in the past. 

CB12's full board concurred on Tuesday, voting to reject Lumus' application and issuing a resolution opposing Lumus' application "in the strongest possible terms." 

"There is simply no public interest served by having an alcohol license at 5060 Broadway," said longtime resident Tony Martignetti, who submitted a petition Tuesday night with 475 signatures opposing the lounge.

However, residents fear the State Liquor Authority will still grant the restaurant a liquor license, as it has done for some past controversial restaurants uptown.

Lumus, which is located near uptown hot spot Hashi, is set to have 20 tables, 80 chairs, and live music at the location, formerly a Chinese food restaurant, and locals fear a liquor license would reopen past chaos at the site.

The public outcry began earlier this month, when critics appeared at CB12's licensing committee meeting on Nov. 13.

"As long as I've lived here, it's always been a bar or unofficial nightclub," resident Jackie Parrot told DNAinfo New York after the meeting. "It's had several different owners but every single one was the same situation."