Saloon Takes Heat From Pols

And the beat goes on against Saloon, a club at 1584 York Ave., between East 83rd and 84th streets. Three local elected officials are lobbying the State Liquor Authority to deny the club"s two new owners a liquor license. They say patrons have been a nuisance for neighbors, and have been responsible for disruptions including â??fights, destruction of private property, public urination and noise, according to the letter. â??We have plenty of bars in our neighborhood that are good community actors, said Assembly Member Micah Kellner, who signed the letter to the State Liquor Authority. â??This is not anti-bar. This is anti-Saloon. Saloon has long been a target for certain community board members and local elected officials who have tried in the past to get the State Liquor Authority to revoke the club"s liquor license. Our Town reported on community complaints in November 2009. Now that there is a new application for a liquor license, Community Board 8"s street life committee requested a letter from the new club owners's Brian McKenna and Thomas McEnroe's stating that they accept responsibility for after-hours disturbances and will keep better control of patrons in exchange for support for the license. In a close 23-to-18 vote, the full board rejected Saloon"s request for a liquor license at its Feb. 17 meeting, because the owners" letter only addressed the complaints as â??allegations. In the letter, the owners wrote that they are observing Saloon"s current operations and will notify the board if new policies are implemented. After the rejection, a follow-up letter from the owners promised more security and that employees would work harder to get exiting patrons into cabs quickly. At press time, McKenna and McEnroe had not yet filed the application with the State Liquor Authority. But elected officials who want the license denied's which includes State Sen. Liz Krueger and Council Member Jessica Lappin, in addition to Kellner's believe owners" efforts to address complaints are futile. â??There are new owners that seem unwilling to make a concrete effort to be good neighbors, Lappin said. Krueger said she would support Saloon if Board 8 is satisfied that complaints have been handled. â??If, at a time in the future, the community board says now it"s okay, then I suspect my office"s position will be to say, â??Good, and glad everything"s worked out," Krueger said. But to Shawn McLaughlin, the club"s manager, this is just a continuous struggle between Saloon and the board. â??It"s a battle we fight every weekend, McLaughlin said. â??We work very hard to appease them as much as possible. The sad truth of it is, as hard as you try, some people don"t want a solution. McLaughlin insists that the club has made an effort to keep noise levels down when patrons leave, but residents may not be able to tell from their apartments. He also emphasized that the club has an open door policy to anybody who wants to make suggestions on how to keep the noise down. â??Nobody can blame us for not trying, McLaughlin said. â??If anybody has any solutions, I"m all ears. But a community board condemnation may just slow down the application process for the new owners, rather than nix the license, according to Robert Bookman, an attorney for nightlife businesses with liquor licenses. â??In New York City, politicians tend to write letters at a moment"s notice when the community board asks, said Bookman, who is also counsel to the New York Nightlife Association. â??They mimeograph these letters. It"s not a shock anymore.