CROWN HEIGHTS — A new bar hoping to open soon in Crown Heights got the go-ahead for a liquor license from the local community board this week, despite protests from a local tenant organization that argues the watering hole is bad news for the neighborhood.
The bar, which is tentatively named Union Franklin 1 for its location at 835 Franklin Ave. at the northeast corner of Franklin Avenue and Union Street, is set to open in early fall, said its co-owner and manager Corey Noble.
He and his team hope to make the 61-seat spot a “comfortable neighborhood beer bar,” he said, serving craft beer and free popcorn to customers.
Both Noble and business partner Jacob Rabinowitz have years of experience in bar management including at Fourth Avenue Pub in Park Slope and Fulton Grand in Clinton Hill, they told attendees at a Community Board 9 meeting Tuesday night where their application for a full liquor license was considered.
But their pitch didn’t impress a group of residents from the Crown Heights Tenant Union who read a statement accusing the Union Franklin team of not notifying tenants and businesses on the block of their plans.
Further, the group claimed the bar is part of a “shady business model” used by local landlords to displace existing businesses. The address formerly housed a hair braiding shop and small clothing store.
“They systematically emptied out buildings’ storefronts of successful, long-standing small businesses in preparation for the influx of more affluent rents who want higher-end restaurants, bars and retail locations,” said Donna Mossman, a Crown Heights resident and founding member of CHTU, speaking of real estate companies with property on Franklin Avenue.
In response, Rabinowitz apologized to anyone who was “once evicted or removed,” but stressed that “we have no part in these cases with the landlords” and promised the Union Franklin team notified the community about their plans, including gathering 150 signatures in support of the new bar.
“We’re certainly not trying to go around anybody,” he said. “We will work with every single neighbor.”
Citing the concerns brought up by the tenant union, a CB9 member introduced a measure to reject Union Franklin’s bid for a full liquor license. But 21 of 37 members voted against it, ultimately approving the bar to move forward with their application to the State Liquor Authority.
Final approval for a liquor license comes from the SLA, which considers the community board’s recommendation in its decision.
