QUEENS — Community Board 6 voted Wednesday to recommend that a Rego Park bar not have its liquor license renewed because of numerous assaults and robberies at the watering hole.
Tropix Bar and Lounge, a popular venue at 95-32 Queens Boulevard, across the street from the Rego Center shopping mall, was seeking the board's recommendation for its liquor license renewal at a recent CB6 meeting.
But the board voted against the renewal after Norman Leibowitz, chair of the CB6 consumer affairs committee, said the bar has become a disruptive force in the neighborhood.
“There were numerous assaults, there were some robberies of customers and of people outside,” Leibowitz said.
He also said the committee had met with Capt. Thomas Conforti, who oversees the 112th Precinct, to discuss the bar.
Leibowitz said that, according to the police, “they’ve been open since 2004 and there have been 43 incidents since then.”
The latest disruption, Leibowitz said, occurred in February. During that incident, he said, a person was “knocked unconscious" during an altercation.
“We were concerned that there have been so many incidents so we voted not to approve the renewal which is rare for this board,” Leibowitz said. He said that it was the first time that CB6 had voted against a liquor license renewal since he became a board member about 10 years ago.
“I said to them: 'there is probably at least 100 bars in our community board and we don’t hear anything about them but all we hear about is the Tropix,'” Leibowitz said.
The owner, Gary Taylor, said he was “very disappointed” but declined further comment until he speaks with his lawyer.
The final decision regarding the Tropix’s liquor license will be made by the State Liquor Authority, as the community board only serves in an advisory role.
