Pour One Out For White Slab Palace, Victim Of Nightlife "Harassment"

RIP (BoweryBoogie's Flickr)

White Slab Palace, the cavernous Scandinavian bar and restaurant on a busy Delancey Street intersection, appears to have slung its last Aquavit: after suffering a series of NYPD and SLA-related setbacks earlier this summer, the space has shuttered for good.

Zagat Buzz snapped a shot of the heartfelt letter the restaurant taped up: "We are sorry to be closed. After having been harassed by the 7th Precinct for months and months on end, we are now facing a very uncertain future. It is with great regret we turn toward tomorrow and the times to come, yet we remain hopeful that brighter and lighter days lie ahead," the owners write, before thanking the "knights and princesses worthy of a fine large round table where might was prowess and where a pure heart always won the fight of a worthy cause." (Seriously.)

The closure is the latest in a series of LES nightlife crackdowns, mainly for underage drinking: everyone from Mason Dixon to Welcome to the Johnson's to The Magician have seen the wrath of official party-poopers lately. There has been no word on whether White Slab will attempt to re-open elsewhere in the city, despite the fact that Nordic food is so hot right now.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jamie Feldmar in Food on October 27, 2011 6:48 PM

Comments [rss]

chee1rs

typical anti- Scandinavian hooligans

Guest

Whether you agree with what the SLA has done or not, I think the readers should at least be informed why the SLA has gone after them. After all, I think that's kind of relevant.

First they were caught serving alcohol without a liquor license in August.

Second, they were caught serving drinks to minors.

Third, the SLA fined them $500 for another infraction in June.

boomshanka

I'm pretty sure they got in trouble for that back room with the second bar and the smoking section at some point too - not that I think they should be shut down for any of these violations.

Gwinny

... in the meantime, almost directly across Allen Street from this restaurant, a Chinese tire shop regularly double-parks cars and buses and takes the wheels off of them for repair -- because hey, it's entirely legal to operate a car repair shop out of a storefront and take up a lane of traffic on an extremely busy road to do so. What has the 7th precinct done about this? Nothing at all.

Hugh G. Rection

oh by the way, the little dumpling shop next door to the tire repair place is simply divine. i recommend anyone to check them out :D

Gwinny

really? I preferred Vanessa's around the corner on Eldridge (although it has been overrun by tourists the past few years).

Hugh G. Rection

vanessa's is okay. a little overrated and overblown by the food bloggers which lead to it being overrun by tourists. there are a bunch of hole in the wall places on eldridge that are cheaper and just as tasty

Gwinny

I tried all of the ones around there in my 4.5 years living in the neighborhood, and I liked Vanessa's the best. However, I also know that there can be consistency issues in the dumplings which may have simply resulted in me not getting the best ones when I tried the other places.

Hugh G. Rection

auto repair shops are under the jurisdiction of the DMV. sidewalks and streets under DOT. the 7th has nothing to do with what you mentioned above. however, it is written into the regulations that the NYPD can enforce where issues of noise and illegal service of alcohol exist