By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — When SoHo’s Via dei Mille came before Community Board 2 on Tuesday night requesting support for a new liquor license, representatives said the eatery did not offer dancing, which would require a cabaret license.
But that point quickly became hard to argue after a meeting attendee pulled out his laptop and described a YouTube video depicting Via dei Mille patrons dancing on the tables in the middle of the afternoon.
A member of CB2's State Liquor Authority licensing committee piled on with a summary of the Italian eatery’s Facebook page, which features photos of restaurant-goers engaging in similar revelry, including one image of a couple with a liquor bottled raised to their mouths as they appeared to belt out a duet.
Restaurateurs appearing at community boards are increasingly being kept honest by social media sites like YouTube and Facebook, which can provide critical evidence of activities members did not witness firsthand.
“That was a big surprise,” said committee member Lois Rakoff. “Sometimes they say, ’oh there’s no dancing on tables,' and then lo and behold.”
One of the restaurant's owners, Barry Mullineaux, explained in an email that a picture brought as proof of the hard-partying restaurant patrons was more innocent than it looked. He said the photo simply depicted girls celebrating after the cake came out at a birthday party held during the restaurant's brunch, which offers bottle-service.
"There has never been any late night dance parties at Via dei Mille," Mullineaux wrote.
For Via dei Mille, located at 357 West Broadway, the social media evidence contributed to CB2’s decision to vote against supporting the restaurant's application for a new liquor license.
Speaking at an executive committee meeting Wednesday night, chair Jo Hamilton commended the use of online media in considering these cases.
“It makes our denials much stronger,” Hamilton said.
In her four years with the board, Rakoff said she had seen a particularly strong uptick in evidence presented from social media sites.
“It’s an eye opener, a window into the place,” said Rakoff. “It gives you an idea of the place from many different people’s points of view.”
She tries to visit eateries that are coming before the committee herself, but sometimes the hours of operation make this problematic.
CB2’s resolution also supports the state liquor authority’s recent decision to cancel Via dei Mille’s prior license. The SLA found that Via dei Mille had failed to notify authorities of a change in management from the names listed on the license, and therefore had been operating illegally for over 18 months.
But the brunch hotspot did have its defenders at Tuesday’s meeting.
Kris Graham, who said he lives near the restaurant, said that while he noticed the noise emanating on Sunday afternoons, it didn’t bother him personally.
“Most of these people complaining, when was the last time they went out?” Graham said.
Another attendee, who described himself as a financial advisor, said that he often sent his clients to the eatery for lunch.
When CB2 asked public attendees who do not have a vote to raise their hands for or against Via dei Mille getting a new license, Mullineaux said that by his count, the supporters out weighed the detractors 20 to 4. The restaurant also brought dozens of letters of support to the SLA committee meeting.
But the number of 311 phone calls made registering noise or overcrowding complaints against Via dei Mille totals over 100, according to CB2's resolution.
"This is not fair. Do you think putting 35 employees out of work and on unemployment is fair because of 4 unhappy neighbors?" Mullineaux wrote. "If we do 60 seats a night, 7 days of the week (which is a very low quote for us), that is 420 people a week that are in support of Via dei Mille versus 4 that are not."
Via dei Mille expects to get resolution on the status of its new license application within the next month, according to Mullineaux.
