Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Teddie Boy Eddie and werner and others, for your intelligent comments.

As an employee of Union Hall (I guess that qualifies me as a "shill" but yes, UH pays for my rent, groceries, schooling, health care, etc.), I would like to reiterate what has been touched upon here and there, but perhaps not nearly enough. The owners of UH are good, honest, decent people. They are generous and fair, a rare combination amongst NYC bar owners. This bar employs a whole hell of a lot of folks. I've never seen anyone go so far out of their way to try to keep their employees (not to mention the neighborhood) as happy as these guys do. And yes, I joined ten minutes ago just so that I could say so.

I was there the night we sound-checked the music room prior to opening our doors in 2006. As the woman from next door flew into an irrational rage in literally minutes, my bosses IMMEDIATELY began making plans to further soundproof the room, which they then proceeded to do. The guys also made an incredible effort to keep the lines of communication calm and open, especially as these particular neighbors shouted in their faces (and mine; the husband stopped by one night I was working to scream that he was going to "burn the fucking place down." Classy.) We've held MULTIPLE employee meetings on this issue. We've been trained to serve people fewer drinks to discourage rowdiness, to keep the music levels down, to keep the sidewalks quiet, etc. etc. etc. We give last call on weekends just minutes after 3am. If that seems late to some of you, it's actually 45 minutes to an hour earlier than the rest of the bars on 5th Ave -- an especially lucrative hour that we're flushing down the toilet to try to appease our neighbors. The music is completely off before most other bars have even given last call. We're trying, folks. We really are.

I was also there one Saturday night when Jon Crow stumbled (yes, stumbled) over to complain about noise when there was not a soul on the sidewalk. I think he may have called the cops that night, actually. He admittedly had been out {drinking} in the city; I guess no one lives in the neighborhoods where he likes to socialize? I think his behavior speaks for itself.

I understand that UH is a huge venue that generates noise. But I can't read another comment about how the owners have made no effort to control the problem. It's just pure, ill-informed bullshit.

It is now clear that the residents of Park Slope HAVE GONE COMPLETELY OFF THE DEEP END. As if the immense number of reports about the selfish entitlement the neighborhood exhibits wasn't enough, just watching these videos pushes it ENTIRELY OVER THE EDGE. What a bunch of ass-hats! this Jon Crow guy and Lou Sones, pretty much take the cake for being self serving idiots. So maybe the neighborhood should just be walled off and completely isolated, they can be forced to succeed from the City of New York entirely, no bars, no people without kids, etc. it would be like Escape From New York, only in opposite-land where Snake Plisken wants to be inside the hellish nightmare. From these recent developments it could be said that the city would be all the better without these tyrannical freaks.

JG (post #18),

Who cares when they joined or who they know? People join these blogs as issues interest them and they want to comment. This particular issue has gotten under the skin of a lot of people, who are opposed to the kind of nefarious activites of Mr. Crow and Mr. Sones.

I am not a regular at UH, though I have been there a few times, and I don't live on the block, as you apparently do.

However, there seems to be overwhelming proof that claims made by neighbors have been exaggerated in an effort to close down a successful business that in general is a positive for Park Slope.

UH was approved to open in that spot. Opponents and CB6 can't now arbitrarily decide that it shouldn't be located there because it's a residential block, which it isn't completely. That bar is located pretty close to the corner of 5th Ave., there is a bus stop there, and there is overflow around that corner from other local establishments.

But my primary opposition to what is going on here is the precedent it sets. A handful of community cranks should not be allowed to hold such great sway over a community board and get businesses shut down that are not violating the law, which UH apparently is not.

I really hope that other business owners on Smith St., Bedford Ave., and the like are paying attention and smart enough to support UH in this matter. They could be targeted next, and it could be by someone much smarter than Jon Crow.

Hey Snowman, I wasn't calling Union Hall mindless commerce, I just thought people were rushing to attack Crow personally without understanding where he's coming from. And, yes, some people in the comments were being personally unpleasant to him.

I'm agnostic about Union Hall. Unfortunately you can't really regulate a bar's clientèle. You just have to mitigate its impact, and I know from personal experience that the bar is trying to do something about its noise impact, and that it can attract some unpleasant people.

I suspect that Crow, like a lot of older and newer residents, is a little disconcerted about what rocks up Fifth Avenue to play on a Friday night since Park Slope got more vibrant.

#19 - "If you want quiet, move to the suburbs. "

Gobama continues to demonstrate his brilliant and original mind with his brilliant and original statements, the same one, day after day!

Don't you wonder whether this character just moved to NYC from the suburbs? Sounds like it.

Union hall has listed their efforts on their website:

http://unionhallny.com/cb6_info/Efforts_Timeline.html

http://unionhallny.com/cb6_info/index.html

Gringcorp:

"In Jon Crow's defense, he has put a lot of time and effort into the community (he's been the co-ordinator of the Brooklyn Bear's Garden). I'm not defending his tactics, but the man has been working to improve Brooklyn, and has also got a bit of first-hand experience of what mindless commerce can do to a neighborhood (the garden is a neighbor of Bruce Ratner's present and future collection of ugly at Atlantic and Flatbush)."

... I'm not sure I'm interpreting your post correctly, but if you are suggesting that Union Hall is a form of "mindless commerce" then I have to assume that you either have never been there, or that you are a member of the Communist Party.

But in all seriousness - coordinating a community garden project is commendable, but let's stick to the issue at hand. People aren't criticizing Crow as a human being, they're upset about him trying to shut down Union Hall. And rightly so - it's a vibrant social venue (night and day) and has been a great stimulus for the area. Furthermore, by in calling in a fire-code violation when there isn't one, the man seems to be embodying the sleazy tactics that much of the anti-UH cabal have chosen to use.

And whether he loathes the place with every fiber of his being or not, does anyone think it sounds like a pretty hefty exaggeration that Union Hall has "had a serious impact on [his] life, on [his] wife's health, and threatened the health and well-being of [his] child"? This isn't Studio 54 on the end of the guy's block... In fact, it is a place that a lot of neighbors (my self included) support.

Please.. if you live in nyc, you have to deal. If you want quiet, move to the suburbs. Is Union St. ever quiet with the all of the buses, traffic at all hours anyway? It's one of the busiest streets in PS.

Agreed, pretty stupid to call the Fire Marshall then go in yourself. However that being said I am hoping for Union Hall to clean up its act and focus more on better bands and events. As I stated in previous posts I used to live across the street from here and it was loud nearly every night until 4 in the morning with vomitting girls, fights, gypsy cabs honking waiting to take people back to their ordinary apartments on East 32nd street, ect...

I have been to many bars and clubs until 4am but I have never seen one with customers this rude and inconsiderate to the neighbors (200 5th comes close). I mostly blame the people who go here (the upstairs part)and managments unwillingness to be assertive with the collar popping bunch who hang out there. Oh, and most (not all) of the posters who are supporting this place are obviously shills for UH or their freinds, check out the join dates. I am pretty sure Jen Carlson is a shill for them as well, even Fox News is more subdued in their bias.

In Jon Crow's defense, he has put a lot of time and effort into the community (he's been the co-ordinator of the Brooklyn Bear's Garden). I'm not defending his tactics, but the man has been working to improve Brooklyn, and has also got a bit of first-hand experience of what mindless commerce can do to a neighborhood (the garden is a neighbor of Bruce Ratner's present and future collection of ugly at Atlantic and Flatbush).

An adult with a backpack. that bout says it all.

I live in Park Slope and I am appalled that this man is using our community resources in this way. What if there had been a real fire or a life-threatening issue and meanwhile this clown has our FD tied up in this joke!

I'm all for people being able to speak their mind in an open forum, but when a grown man spends his time making prank calls to the local fire department like this it's time to take away his power in the community and actively stop listening to anything he has to say. Jon Crow doesn't deserve another second of the people of Park Slope's time or energy.

#8 -- Lou may be a good friend of yours but that doesn't make his reasons legitimate ones. For what its worth, many of the other local bar owners (in Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, etc.) think that Lou's selling out his community to set a precedent that says if a bar is on residential block it should lose its license and if its on a commercial block it should keep it. Because, surprise surprise, Brazen Head is on a commercial block and gets tons of noise complaints. He's trying to insulate himself from noise complaints by selling out Union Hall. He should be ashamed of himself. I know a lot of people who'd won't set foot in the Brazen Head again.

Crow is known for this kind of piss poor attempt at community activism. FDNY are not tools to get loud bars closed. They are there to protect our citizens from danger. Shame on you Crow! Leave the city activism to someone who actually cars about the WHOLE community.

This Crow twat, on video, created a bigger disturbance than the ones he's complaining about. Whatta boob

I'm old and scared of young people having fun and intercourse!

Never let "the community" determine anything: impose! impose! impose!

Don't worry about the haterz, Jen, you OWN this story. Or Union Hall owns you. Something like that. Either way, Gowanus Lounge man (fun fact! There used to be a short-lived bar catty-corner to the Union Hall site with exactly the same name) is totally hanging his head in shame.

People who live on the block have to be heard... they pay the taxes and keep the nabe for the most part. But it does appear that some of these folks have pushed it too far. Park Slope has been a bar nabe for a long, long time (we were going out there in the 80's), you gotta know what you're moving into when you move here.

Some blocks are bar blocks, some are quiet blocks. If you're turning one into another, that's one thing. But it doesn't sound like this is the case. Just my ill-informed opinion.

Having said that, Lou Sones is a good friend of mine and a good guy. If he votes a certain way, he's got his reasons. An they're usually good reasons, even if I've disagreed.

I've probably made more than my fair share of wtf is up with Jen Carlson comments as of late, so I think I'll just try to skip her posts from now on.