By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — The Reverend of a Times Square church is trying to block a local comedy club from getting a new liquor license because he fears it will turn the space into a nightclub — even though operators say all they want is to host off-Broadway shows.
Reverend James Ross Smith of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is urging Community Board 5 to deny the Ha! Comedy Club at 163 W. 46th Street a "cabaret license" that would permit dancing as well as stand-up routines.
Community Board 5’s Public Safety Committee is set to vote on the application Wednesday night.
In a letter addressed to the board, the Reverend said the stretch between Sixth and Seventh avenues is already plagued by loud noise, congestion and drunken patrons and that granting the club the new permit will only make things worse.
"As Times Square evolves into a kind of open-mall entertainment center, the residents of the block feel that we must express our determination to keep this a neighborhood that has multiple uses and that remains welcoming to those who live here as well as to those who visit," he wrote.
Kathleen Cromwell, a member of the 46th Street Block Association who has lived on the block for 30 years, said the stretch is under siege by an "extreme proliferation of liquor licenses."
"We’ve had it. We’re fed up and we’re frustrated," she said. "Everyone seems to forget there are people living there."
Despite its close proximity to Times Square, the stretch is an "anomaly," she said — home to residents as well as priests and nuns from the church and students from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School.
She said that turning the space into a dance cave, which she's certain will occur, would be another blow.
But Teddy Gonzalez, who represents Comedy Club of NYC, which operates HA!, said the owners have no intention of turning the space into a dance cave.
Instead, operators want permission to stage off-Broadway shows where audience members are allowed to get up and dance in the aisles.
Without the permit, "if the cops come in and they find one person [dancing], you’re in violation," Gonzalez said.
Despite his case, Gonzalez said he had no plans show up at the meeting because he was unaware the application was scheduled to be heard.
"Nobody’s told us nothing," he said.
Wally Rubin, District Manager for Community Board Five, said he could not comment on the specific application, but said the committee makes extensive efforts to reach out to all parties involved.
