TRIBECA — The only way to keep the peace on a narrow TriBeCa block, frustrated residents say, is to keep restaurant Buddha Bar off their street.
The international Buddha Bar brand, known as an upscale nightlife spot, is trying to open inside a 12,000-foot space at 62 Thomas St. — a massive location locals say has been home to one huge loud nightclub after the next, giving them sleepless nights for years.
"Every owner says the exact same thing when they move in — 'we're a restaurant, we're not a club, we'll be a good neighbor' and then it just falls apart," said Tim Muckherjee, a neighbor of the space, at a recent and contentious Community Board 1 meeting. "My walls have shaken for years."
Dozens of local residents came out in force at the meeting, where Buddha Bar was attempting to get community support for a liquor license — it was not successful.
The owner and the restaurant's manager tried to argue that they were genuinely a fine-dining experience, not a wild nightclub, and were hoping to work with neighbors.
"We're not here to disrupt your life and make it a nightmare," said Nicolas Barthelomy, the restaurant manager. "We want to be a sophisticated place, in the league with the best restaurants in New York."
The team from Buddha Bar, whose owner also runs a London location, came prepared with their sound engineer to show their plan to limit noise, as well as a man who would run their security outside of the restaurant.
But residents couldn't accept the idea that the space was just going to be a quiet restaurant, saying the brand is known for its party atmosphere. They also anticipated the crowds, smokers and cars lined up that would once again plague their narrow street.
The last restaurant in the space, called Megu, shut down in 2014, several years after evolving into more of a loud club than restaurant.
A previous Buddha Bar in New York's Meatpacking District was shut down years ago, and had become known as a raucous nightspot.
The Buddha Bar team at the meeting tried to distance themselves from the previous New York incarnation of Buddha Bar, but to no avail.
While they didn't get community board support for the liquor license, Buddha Bar still may get it from the State Liquor Authority — a community board's support, or lack thereof, holds sway with the SLA, but is still only advisory.
The owner and manager of Buddha Bar declined to comment.
