MANHATTAN — The Bohemian National Hall wants to be a good neighbor.
The building at 321 E. 73 St., one of the rare survivors of the social halls built during the 19th century, got a major $45 million overhaul in 2008.
It's already become a hotspot for hip Czech and Slavic culture, and has now moved into the food market with the new beer hall, Hospoda, which opened last year. The Czech government, which took it over in 2001, also holds diplomatic events and has its consulate there.
But the activities at the 120-year-old institution have been plaguing at least one vocal and sleep-deprived resident on its leafy block. Carole Kaplan, who lives in a co-op next door, said it’s been noisy ever since the renovation.
The organization said it’s doing all it can to placate her and keep things quiet, canceling a rooftop dance party series mid-season, lowering the volume of its rootop films and implementing a new schedule for deliveries, the institution's officials said.
Kaplan complained about the noise from early morning or late night deliveries for the building’s events. She wasn’t happy when the new beer hall came in and told DNAinfo that she was “verbally assaulted” by “disgusting drunks” at a Czech street fair on the block in the fall.
"They have completely disregarded our building in terms of noise,” Kaplan said last week at a Community Board 8 meeting where she made a plea for help.
"I’m almost ready to go out in my pajamas and scream at them at seven in the morning or late at night," Kaplan told DNAinfo.
A representative from her building's property manager, Goodstein Management, confirmed Kaplan had logged complaints about the Bohemian National Hall — but said she was the only one from the building doing so.
He said he spoke to the Bohemian National Hall on her behalf about a month ago and was told they would make changes.
The Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association, which maintains and operates the building, is trying to be responsive, Tomas Hadl, the organization’s project manager, told DNAinfo.
“We tried to keep it down,” Hadl said of the monthly dance parties that attracted roughly 60 people. “We decided to cancel it.”
Hadl said the organization had a legal right to host the parties and was not violating laws regulating sound levels, but ultimately nixed the popular event because of the complaints.
"We wanted to be a good neighbor," he said.
Hadl also hopes the newly-implemented hours for event deliveries, within the window of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be an improvement over the early morning drop-offs for the building's 7 a.m. corporate events. He said they changed the schedule at the start of the year.
"We always try to see her point of view," Hadl said. "From our point of view, this works."
He added, "I don’t know if there’s anything to satisfy her. We understand she’s trying to live peacefully here, and we are trying to work with her and live peacefully.”
He acknowledged that the institution “brings life” to a residential street, especially with the building’s new beer hall.
"The building is alive with people coming and going. We try to do everything we can," he said. "There are limits to what we can do. We’re not going to stop our events."
The organization's upcoming calendar includes everything from an evening of Bohemian jazz, a screening of “The People Vs. Larry Flynt” and the upcoming "Beseda Ball" in the building's grand hall, featuring the Polydor Swing Band from the Czech Republic.
When asked if the noise has abated, Kaplan wrote in an email to DNAinfo that she was waiting to see what happens during the next event.
