Gothamist: Park Slope Scolds Unite Against Union Hall

driftwood

Mon, 19 May 2008 12:53:55 -0500

@jackblack No, you have it backwards. If the people want to live in the quiet suburbs, they should move to the hick towns themselves. Because let me tell you, New York is never going to be the quiet and calm place they're making up.

jackblack

Thu, 01 May 2008 22:52:51 -0500

What makes me laugh about so many of these comments is that the people who have a beef with Union Hall have lived in Brooklyn for decades, and worked hard to make the neighborhood what it is, whereas all the folks who seem to love the place so much sound like a bunch of post-college transplants from yuppie suburbs in the midwest. Pull the silver spoons out of your mouths, and deal with the fact that not every neighborhood wants to be your personal playground. You wrecked the East Village, the Lower East Side, Williamsburg, you're wrecking Park Slope and the rest of the city-- go back to the hick towns you came from if you want to make noise.

commonsense6986

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:28:50 -0500

The same kind of people knowingly move to a college town and complain that there are too many college kids. It's time to face the facts. You have a wife. You may have a child. You most likely have a job you hate. Stop trying to perpetuate your youth by living in a "cool" neighborhood in Brooklyn, just so you can tell your Central Park West friends "I live in a cool neighborhood in Brooklyn." When I'm 35, 40 years old, I'll concede to the fact that I might not be cut out to be "cool" anymore and I'll graciously move to an obnxious New Jersey suburb. I'll buy a ridiculous automobile (another sad attempt at preserving my youth) and drive it into the city each day to the same job, only this time, the valet will park it for me. You're trying to close an establishment that brings a large number of people enjoyment, in order to bring 2, maybe 3 people some satisfaction. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe your next venture should be to remove the word "fun" from the American vocabulary.

girloclock

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:49:12 -0500

This is absurd. As previously stated, Union Hall's shows are in the basement and the sound is barely audible. Bocce and smoking is kind of lame, but still entirely innocuous. I live in Park Slope, and you don't see me complaining about the Beansprouts singing their goddamn children's songs on the sidewalk at 9 AM every day (some of us work nights!), or the obnoxious parents who take their strollers on the subway with them... if your child is too big to carry, why can't they walk?! Agh!

enlrox

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:33:38 -0500

P.S. I think Union Hall might actually be my favorite bar in New York. And let's not forget about the bocce ball courts!

enlrox

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:32:47 -0500

This is ridiculous. I love Union Hall. It's one of the only decent bars in Park Slope and now they want to get rid of it? The concerts are down in the basement. you can't even hear them in the upstairs part of the bar and I've never been able to hear one from outside. it's pretty much the only place for me to see concerts without having to go into Manhattan or Williamsburg. The great thing about New York is that no neighborhood is strictly residential. Not all of us in Park Slope are families with our own brownstones and a Volvo. Some of us need stuff that is within walking distance because we don't own cars! And like feelthebuzz said, get a life! Find something better to do than whine and complain. If you don't want to hear noise, move out to the suburbs.

sonyactivision

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:09:54 -0500

These Park Slope "Boulevardiers" should tie balloons to their strollers, get a few cops and firemen to join them, and stop traffic in the middle of the street with their little yuppie crusader parade. Then they should quicky get back home to ring up their friends and kvetch about the declining dress habits of their neighbors.

feelthebuzz

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:53:15 -0500

do these people have nothing better to do? f*ck!

skowl

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:28:33 -0500

@31: It is way beyond an uncrossed 't, or selective enforcement on food vendors who harm no one. Anyone with a grain of sense who runs a bar would, at the very least, have these basic documents of public record in place so that no one could shut them down for political gains. (Political gain being...they can unseat Yassky? Doubtful.) It's greed, pure and simple. Happyland Social Club or The Station, anyone?

Mike D

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:01:22 -0500

@29: If you get enough complaints against your bar/club someone in power can always find some 'i' that wasn't dotted or 't' that wasn't crossed and shut your establishment down to please their complaining constituents. This isn't that different from the attacks on the Red Hook vendors last summer. Selective enforcement of the law for political gains.

skowl

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:12:58 -0500

Before everyone flames me, by "arrogant idiots," I meant the club owners...

skowl

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:07:31 -0500

Uh, how does not having one single permit for the construction, no fire protection plan, and no Certificate of Occupancy or Place of Assembly permit for the increased space get traced back to "nit picky neighbors"? Studio B caused their own problems with the roof deck. They didn't bother to open the space legally, disregarding both the safety of their patrons, and the fact that they border on a quiet residential neighborhood, and would have never gotten LEGAL approval. So they just went ahead anyway. A certain amount of noise is expected in the city; total disregard for everyone else is not. Arrogant idiots.

plk779

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:12:13 -0500

Um...these people DO know they live in New York, right? Noise kind of comes with the territory. These people need to stop trying to turn an urban environment into a suburban one - they should figure out what they want; you can't have it all.

GaryK

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:44:58 -0500

That is some funny stuff 'thekillertouch'. That list got a bunch of people laughing here. One thing people rarely point out here is that the increased noise outside is mostly due to smokers being forced to go outside and smoke. If bars allowed their guests to smoke inside you would not have nearly the number of noise complaints. Tolerance - wow - far out.

JacqueMehoff

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:30:44 -0500

even the most well run bar gets their share of drunkees. but is it constant? how bout putting it up on Youtube, I love seeing drunken bar fights.

JGNY

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:17:39 -0500

Prospect Bandshell closes at 10-11. That's fine and I wouldn't have a problem with that. This places gets loud at 3am then the fighting starts then the puking. If any of you lived near the place you would feel the same. Off: Clearly you are not dealing with the problem yourself as you are unwilling to ask a neighbor to keep it down. You think burying your head in the pillow is dealing with it?

spnder

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:11:43 -0500

Union Hall is hardly a hipster hangout... In fact, the hipsters that do go there for shows, spelling bees, science night and comedy are the least of your worries...

Ben K

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:53:55 -0500

All of the nearby residents have done this before resorting to a petition so it's not like we didn't try to handle this like neighbors. Oh yeah! You're sticking it to the man. You resorted to a petition! Power to the people!

Offbalance

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:50:29 -0500

JG: Knock on their door? Oh, you're funny. After what I've overheard, that's anything but an option. So I deal. I don't expect Nanny Government to look out for me, I do it myself. I'd much rather the police spend their time chasing down actual criminals, instead of just the low-class and noisy, but that's just me being silly, I guess. Clearly, the goal of the NYPD is to make sure things are quiet. I tend to just leave things be in order to coexist. I'm not so entitled as to think that any noise from the outside world should be forbidden from entering my apartment. I live near the bandshell - I'm surprised that no group of cranky old scolds like yourself have banded together to shut down the nuisance that is Celebrate Brooklyn. After all, it contains sounds of people enjoying themselves, and that must be stopped at all costs, at least according to those like you.

steve stevens

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:39:35 -0500

shut up you whiny babies. union hall a hipster crowd? lulz. that joint is packed full of park slope cunts...

JGNY

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:16:13 -0500

Offbalance, Yes loud noises are a fact of city life I can deal with. Sirens, car alarms, screaming neighbors, whatever. However this is simply a pattern of negligence in patrolling thier customers. It is something that they had many chances to fix and they chose not too so you take the next course of action. You can't pass an oridinace against your screaming neighbors but you could knock on their door and ask them to keep thier voices down. If it keeps up you call the police.

Rocknrope

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:09:17 -0500

Truly hilarious, this is the same place where Park Slope parents complained that they couldn't park their strollers inside. Now they're complaining its too loud. Yep, the residents of this area seem to be the biggest bunch of whining assholes this side of Park Avenue.

Offbalance

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:05:01 -0500

I really don't get why these people don't just move back to whatever one-horse suburb that they came from if this is such a problem. I live across an airshaft from an old-school Brooklyn white trash family that fight and scream at each other until all hours. I can't pass a city ordinance against them. I can't whine and complain to anyone about it. I got earplugs and dealt with it like a grownup. JGNY and Mr. Crow should note that both the Atlantic Terminal Target, Neergaard pharmacy, Rite AID, CVS, and all the surrounding bodegas all stock high quality earplugs.

janelle

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:59:19 -0500

these residents are interfering with union hall doing business. they should be evicted.

JGNY

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:54:45 -0500

I used to live across the street from this bar and it is a hell hole. The lame crowd hangs out front on the sidewalk until 4am yelling, fighting, smoking. There are many bars that stay open this late without this problem. I called the managers often and asked them to keep a bouncer outside so people don't congregate but they said it was a public sidewalk and they can't control the crowds there. I also called the police many times who gave me another lame excuse. All of the nearby residents have done this before resorting to a petition so it's not like we didn't try to handle this like neighbors.

thekillertouch

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:50:28 -0500

10 step life cycle for the modern hipster: 1. Move to Williamsburg and party like you are still in college. 2. Praise the art and music scene and support the opening of new venues. Go to as many shows as possible. 3. Meet the man/woman of your dreams. 4. Get married, children optional. 5. Move out of Williamsburg and move to Park Slope. 6. Stop attending art and music shows. 7. Grow bitter about the people who have fun at bars cropping up in your area. 8. Complain about venues and bars that open up next door. 9. Threaten to shut them down, even though you supported that very scene in your youth. 10. Move to Long Island or Jersey.

Ph

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:47:52 -0500

The people in Park Slope are fucking lame. You should just rename the damn city 'anytown USA' because that's what you've turned it into. Fuckheads.

Mike D

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:41:35 -0500

Increased urban density is killing nightlife.

liulide

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:38:24 -0500

@zodak, there is, it's called uniondale. you can't have both peace/quiet and a hip neighborhood with high property value. get some ear plugs or move to long island

WesTheYeTi

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:38:16 -0500

This is New York. There are a lot of bars here next to apartments and homes. Get over it.

Ben K

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:38:08 -0500

Jon Crow, king of the NIMBY crowd.

jimmylegs

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:35:34 -0500

i had no idea they had it so bad in park slope. man, i don't know what i'll do when i run out of things to complain about.

Gringcorp

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:32:40 -0500

Bah, Union Hall is so over as a nuisance bar. Garfield's lounge on Fourth Ave and Garfield is where the hot trendy nuisance action is. We had crowds on sidewalks, double parked cars (on Fourth Avenue - a guaranteed 2am honk-frenzy), loud music and at about 1am this phalanx of bikers that started revving their engines as if it would compensate for their lack of meaningful genitals. So all in all, Union Hall's gaggle of drunk Bay Ridge girls talking loudly outside while smoking is kind of lame.

jaems

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:31:27 -0500

Maybe those homeowners should have prevented the bar/concert hall from being established in the first place instead of trying to shut them down after it was built. But whatever, I guess that would've been too logical and required forethought. Union Hall is one of the few places in the Slope which isn't dead after 11pm. And it's not as if Park Slope is lacking in any residential zones.

zodak

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:24:05 -0500

stupid hipsters think they can ruin every neighborhood. there has to be a place where people can get a night's sleep so they can work the next day. go back to williamsburg.

Rocknrope

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:23:49 -0500

Let the Park Slope Bourgeoisie bashing commence!

Nick S

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:16:47 -0500

new york is a city filled with big babies.

nonumentalart

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:09:38 -0500

think of how many people bars employ

famdoc

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:07:46 -0500

I am sure that dozens of gothamist readers who are live music fans will find reason to criticize Mr. Crow as a yuppie homeowner seeking to protect the value of his property. But as a fellow PS yuppie (?) homeowner living in a part of the neighborhood unaffected by the commercial growth seen there in the past few years, I think some dialog about development is in order. Walk down the dining strip of Fifth Ave. any Sunday afternoon or any evening and you'll see crowds waiting to get into restaurants and bars. The weekend brunch crowd is particularly sizable. Now, with bars and live music venues opening on Fourth Ave., on Ninth St. and on Seventh Ave. in South PS, we have nightly crowds, many smoking in front of venues, along with noise. Proprietors need to cooperate with residents to maintain a quality of life in the neighborhood. A sign outside a venue telling customers to "respect our neighbors by keeping noise down" is simply insufficient.

zodak

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:02:32 -0500

they should close down "bar reis" while they're at it.