Controversial Park Slope Bar Owner Refuses To Close Patio At Midnight

Prime 6, the forthcoming Flatbush Avenue restaurant-lounge that's got Park Slopers in a tizzy, is back in the news after last night's community board meeting. You'll recall that at the start of March one Park Slope resident made waves with a petition urging the club to promote indie musicians, not hip hop artists. Others, however, seemed more concerned about the joint's 46-seat back patio, which the owner initially asserted would stay open until 4 a.m. in the summer. Now he's agreed to close it at 1 a.m., but the locals still aren't satisfied; they want Prime 6 to move the party inside at midnight on weekends. But the owner's not having it.

Owner Akiva Ofshtein insists he can't close that early because he'll lose a lot of business to his competitors, who stay open until 1 a.m. “I can’t go below the competitive standard,” Ofshtein tells the Brooklyn Paper. "I’m glad everybody is getting ideas on the table — but the contention is Friday and Saturdays." The bar, which is near the under-construction Barclays Arena, will also have big video screens to show the Nets games, occasional bottle service, and live music outside. But at last night's meeting, Ofshtein reportedly focused on plans to serve "local meats and vegetables" and "free kids brunch on weekends." What Park Sloper could resist that?

Ofshtein plans to open in May, and he already has his liquor license, so he could just decide to defy the community board for the time being. But even midnight generally seems to be the standard for when bars close down the back yard and herd everyone inside (always a traumatic experience). Maybe we should just be grateful for what we have; last summer, state Assemblywoman Joan Millman made headlines when she proposed a law that would require bars to close their backyards at 10 p.m. on weekends. What's next, mandatory bar nap times? Jukeboxes that only play educational books on tape? No spitting?

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By John Del Signore in Food on March 29, 2011 4:30 PM

Comments [rss]

yetanotherdamneduselessaccount

What kind of local meats and vegetables are you gonna get in Brooklyn? Rats & weed trees?

eflash

the "competitive standard" he mentions presumably refers to the bars in the immediate neighborhood, in which case, he's completely right. Flatbush Farm (1 block away) and all the bars on Vanderbilt (2 long-blocks away) with outdoor areas close them up at 1am. It's completely justifiable to think folks would leave and walk one block to another bar so they could stay outside for another hour.

SteveEttlinger

Actually, Flatbush Farm and Sugarcane, his competitive neighbors, close their yards at 11pm, and stop serving before that.

loveyourlife

Fuck those new residents. I say stay open till 4 am. It's the city not the suburbs. Move you fake NYers. I can't wait till they open that stadium!

SFNY

Since the bar hasn't even opened yet, it means the residents were there first.

Trustafarian

yeah man - sleeping is SOOOO midwest transplant shit

Mordicai

If you actually LIVE in the neighborhood, you MUST be a fake New Yorker, DUH. REAL New Yorkers don't live in residential neighborhoods in New York, dawg! POOCHIE OUT!

mattbrooklyn

totally man. my new york family actually has never slept once. ever.

wait a minute... could that explain why the mets and the knicks suck so freaking much? and why the yankees are just soulless robots? they were being loveyourlife nyers and never ever sleeping?

city not the suburbs! new rallying cry! man the barricades!

Trustafarian

Okay - I was the first to call NIMBY shit on Park Slopers - but this bar owner sounds like a royal douche.

Most of the places I go shut down the patios around midnight. It's called being considerate to neighbors.

RobNYC

Yeah, he is a douche. I know he can keep the back yard open for as long as he wants but a lot of other places in the slope usually close them around midnight so it's not like he's being unfairly singled out in that respect.

schmeep

Isn't it interesting how so many of us have that same reflex of hate on them? (Well deserved, of course). Agreed, this is terrible- Manhattan outdoor space closes at 10-11. Residential areas are no place for this mess.

SFNY

Yeah, this bar owner might want to research what Delicatessen's SoHo neighbors did a few years ago. The neighbors upstairs, who've been there longer than you, almost always win.

Trustafarian

haha - i seem to recall urine was involved!!

this guy sounds like a total amateur. even if you aren't relying on the neighborhood you're located in for business - you don't wanna piss off your neighbors!!

Mordicai

Yeah; this whole thing has been a clusterfrag, but this guy is digging himself into a hole. I just flipped on it, actually-- now I say eff this guy.