EAST VILLAGE — The former manager of notorious nightclub and alleged neighborhood scourge Le Souk was vehemently shot down by community members while attempting to score a beer and wine license for a new venture at the nightclub’s now-vacant space.
Community Board 3’s State Liquor Authority subcommittee unanimously voted to deny Lamia’s Fish Market at 45 Avenue B a beer and wine license — a rare occurrence, according to the subcommittee chair — after longtime locals filled the room to share horror stories of Le Souk’s heyday, recalling rowdy crowds, loud music, street congestion and reported violent incidents.
“It was eight years of a nightmare,” said longtime resident Christopher, who lives around the corner from the venue and implored the subcommittee to reject the application. “I pray to God that justice is done.”
The SLA denied Le Souk a liquor license in 2009 due to the ongoing issues with the community, and the bar shuttered months later.
Applicant Lamia Funti, who continues to manage Le Souk’s Greenwich Village location, submitted plans to open a 2-story restaurant and fish market at the infamous club’s former Avenue B spot.
But Le Souk’s long legacy of mayhem and Funti’s alleged connection to the restaurant’s former owner — who has a documented history of legal trouble — came back to haunt the applicant as the board and locals dredged up the hot spot’s sordid past.
Funti’s husband Marcus Andrews ran Le Souk with business partner and brother Sameh Jacob, who in 2014 was sentenced to two years in prison for buying up real estate with “structured account transfers” — small deposits were siphoned from his restaurant revenue to get around bank reporting law, court records show.
Following his conviction, Jacob changed ownership of 45-51 Avenue B LLC — which still owns the venue that would be Lamia’s Fish Market — so that it now solely belongs to Andrews, Funti's husband and landlord.
Funti denied that Jacob is remotely involved in her proposed venture, and stated that Andrews is her landlord only — but the family connection was disturbing enough to warrant a strong community pushback, said members of the East Fourth Street to Avenue B Block Association.
“It very much seems like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said association leader Frank Macken. “I don’t see how we could possibly support this application given the history of the family involved.”
The block association and other locals called attention to mayhem surrounding Le Souk’s current location, where police say a man was stabbed in the face in June 2015.
The association also cited community concerns around Greenwich Village hookah bar Falucka Lounge, which has its own history of violence and which Community Board 2 in August 2015 voted to deny a liquor license renewal. Funti denied her husband’s ownership of the bar, despite his name being on the license that is currently on file with the SLA.
Subcommittee chair Alex Militano also noted that Funti calls herself an owner of Falucka on a social media account — Funti denied the account was monitored by her, claiming her young daughter created the page as a prank.
In fact, the applicant said she was shocked the board was drilling her on her connection to Andrews and Jacob’s ventures at all, seeming flustered by the line of questioning.
“I’m sorry, I did not expect to be talking about this at all,” she said. “This whole time I was really excited to be talking about my concept.”
Militano further noted that Jacob had been found in violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law for illegally moving booze from Le Souk to a sister bar called Carthage Palace, which was operated by Andrews.
The SLA will have the final say as to whether the spot gets its license, but Militano stated she is confident the authority will not circumvent the subcommittee’s strong recommendation against an approval.
“I think it is sufficient history for the SLA to not grant you a beer and wine license,” she said.
