Two weeks ago, it was proposed at a community board meeting that the waterfront concerts held by the OSA in Williamsburg be moved... two blocks from the current location. The proposal was to appease neighbors, who are complaining about the summertime concerts and overflow of attendees into the streets in their neighborhood. After all, it's all fun and games until nitrous-huffing zombies are outside of your window. more ›

Sick and tired of hearing their neighbors complaining about food trucks, Community Board members on the UWS promised to keep a close eye on the much-maligned mobile food vendors. more ›

Change was in the air following one woman's account of nitrous-fueled zombie hippies taking over her block after a Widespread Panic concert on the Williamsburg waterfront this summer. Last night a Community Board meeting was held to address the location, and it seems the Open Space Alliance (who host the concerts) and CB1 have come to an agreement: future events will be held a couple of blocks away, at a vacant lot on Kent and North 11th Street. more ›

Actor (and NIMBY) Matt Dillon, now 47 years old!, headed to his local Community Board meeting last night on the Upper West Side to express his views on restaurant Calle Ocho changing locales and landing closer to his home base. Donning sunglasses and a hat, DNA Info reports that Dillon doesn't want the restaurant (now on Columbus Avenue) moving about a half block away, to 45 West 81st Street. more ›

[UPDATED BELOW] Last night one part of the Williamsburg community rose up against another, possibly more "social" part of the Williamsburg community. This all went down at the CB1 meeting, where much of the night was spent discussing that proposed moratorium on all new liquor licenses in the area (more on that later). The shocker came at the end of the meeting, however, when community board members voted unanimously to ban all concerts from the Williamsburg Waterfront! more ›

Remember when Chloë Sevigny said in an interview that she wanted to join her community board (Manhattan's CB 3) so she could "help preserve some of the older buildings, try and save as many as possible and try to stop them from building as high." Turns out people took that seriously! The Villager checked in on her application status recently and reports back that she hasn't even applied. Borough President Scott Stringer told them, "We are waiting for the application and we are looking forward to the interview." Until then, the starlet is partially responsible for every high-rise that goes up in the neighborhood. [via EV Grieve] more ›

Residents of some elite buildings on Central Park West are coming together to stop the development of what they believe will turn into an all-hours nightclub akin to whatever kind of club they're picturing that has them so damn terrified. Though project head Gregory Hunt says the Central Park West Cafe, at 25 Central Park West, "will be sophisticated and mellow," the West Side Independent reports that locals have a petition 400 signatures strong to keep him from getting a liquor license. more ›

In that Bust Magazine interview Chloë Sevigny recently did, she mentioned being interested in joining her community board (Manhattan's CB 3), saying she'd like to "help preserve some of the older buildings, try and save as many as possible and try to stop them from building as high." more ›

While an out-of-business storefront with illegal ads plastered all over it may be an eyesore when jutting out into the sidewalk, what about a storefront filled with Sex and the City wanna-bots drooling over cupcakes? The UWS community thinks that's just as bad, but it seems Magnolia Bakery will be allowed to keep its sidewalk cafe on Columbus and 69th Street anyway. more ›

East Side residents are accusing the city of trading a precious bit of green space for a little bit cash. The Parks Department is considering allowing a winter-time tennis bubble to operate year-round in the tiny Queensboro Oval at the corner of 59th Street and York Avenue—meaning neighbors wouldn't be able to access the park tucked beneath the Queensboro Bridge unless they paid a fee. more ›

New York City's community boards are known for being thorns in the side of city government, lobbying, often effectively, to influence the policy of councilmembers and city agencies. But it's rare to see a community board — by design the lowest wrung of municipal government — challenge the President of the United States. And it's even rarer to see them making headway. more ›

Three years before voting to rename a street in of honor an unarmed 23-year-old who was killed in a barrage of police bullets, a Queens Community Board rejected an application to rename a street in honor of a police officer killed in the line of duty. So following the board's controversial vote in favor of "Sean Bell Way," the family of deceased officer John Scarangella has again applied for a street renaming to memorialize the slain cop. But the chairwoman of Community Board 12, Adjoa Gzifa, opposes the renaming. "For every police officer that puts on a uniform and carries a gun, if they should perish in the line of duty, does that mean we have to rename a street for them?" more ›

240 defunct parking meters (right) will be reincarnated as bike racks on almost 40 blocks of the UWS, on Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues between 67th and 86th Streets. Last night Community Board 7 voted 23-12 to convert the old meters, and received strong backing from the Columbus Ave BID, whose secretary said they'd definitely like "those 185,000 bikers to shop in our stores and eat in our restaurants." Isn't it nice to see a neighborhood warmly welcoming bicylists (ahem, South Williamsburg)? We should totally do the next Bike Kill on the Upper West Side! [Via Streetsblog] more ›

The largely successful campaign to slow the proliferation of bars in downtown Manhattan has spread to gentrifying Williamsburg. Last week a small but insistent group of Brooklyn residents gathered at a Community Board 1 meeting to fight enemy #1: the owner of Custom American Wine Bar, who is seeking liquor license approval to open his establishment at Driggs and Metropolitan. Some locals have actually argued that the presence of a wine bar will increase gang activity. Also, those obstreperous oenophiles will keep them up at night with their cacophonous quaffing. more ›

Just a heads up: Bay Ridge’s community board is now convinced that a 64th Street karaoke bar isn't trying to get you laid in a private booth as you savor the sweet, drunk, cackling crooning of some stranger serenading you with Journey's “Don’t Stop Believin'." more ›

The business group spearheading what they hope to be the next era of the Limelight—retail—presented its plans to a local community board this week and were met with a great deal of skepticism and suspicion. The Limelight Marketplace group is hoping to put a mini-mall into the onetime church whose eye-catching building along Sixth Avenue in the Chelsea is only eclipsed by the stories of the drug-fueled and freak-filled nights that went on inside its walls during its era as one of clubland meccas of the '80s and early '90s. But instead of being eager to welcome in retail stores to replace the bad reputation of Peter Gatien's club, the Flatiron community board instead came off sounding like Reverend Moore in , expressing fears that the new plan was a ruse to return to days past. The Board Landmark Chairman recommended rejecting the proposal because he worried that the retail proposal is "one big dodge to get a club going there." He also pointed to a large empty space in the floor plan that would be "perfect for dancing." The development group denied they had any intention of shaking up their plans, only saying about the new space, "There's going to be nothing else like it." more ›

Angry Tribeca residents gathered at a Community Board 1 meeting Wednesday to confront the owner of Sazon, a newish bi-level Latin Caribbean restaurant and lounge. The basement salsa parties have become quite popular, and that's upsetting some neighbors like Barbara Spitzer, who decried the "party atmosphere... Reade Street feels like I’m living on Seventh Avenue." Another resident complained, "People are coming here to have fun. Fun is good, but it’s not very good on a residential street." Then owner Genero Morales detected a whiff of racism against his largely Puerto Rican clientele, and that insinuation infuriated Spitzer: "You really shouldn’t go there. It’s really inappropriate, and it’s quite offensive." The protests come at a bad time for Sazon, which is still waiting for liquor license approval from the SLA and has been selling booze under temporary licenses. Tribeca Committee chairman Peter Braus agreed with the neighbors, and told Morales, "There’s a discrepancy, clearly, between how you represented yourself [in January] and how the community perceives you." Morales is taking steps to quiet down, but downtown community boards won't really be satisfied until all bars are relocated to a designated "fun barge" somewhere off the southeast tip of Staten Island. more ›

Gang violence is an ongoing problem on the South Side of Williamsburg, so it's understandable that some local residents are up in arms about plans to open a fancy new wine bar in the neighborhood. Wait, what? On Tuesday a Community Board committee voted against approving a liquor license for Custom American Wine Bar at Driggs and Metropolitan Avenue. It seems Tempranillo and Trinitarios don't mix, as one neighbor explained at the meeting: "We are trying to prevent gang activity in the neighborhood. Opening this restaurant with beer and liquor, with teenagers already going crazy here, it’s going to be an even bigger issue." Another beef is that the owners want to serve wine until 2 a.m.! Do people even stay up that late? It looks like Brooklyn's Community Board 1 is now taking a cue from the stridently anti-night life Community Boards in downtown Manhattan. But it was bound to happen eventually, once enough hipsters transformed into yupsters with sleeping babies. As local Dennis Thompkins told the committee, "The neighborhood is nearly saturated with bars. The area is becoming unlivable. What we need are businesses that serve our community." Because there's no reason anyone should have to schlep to Manhattan just to buy a new bugaboo. [Brooklyn Paper via Eater] more ›

Lounge 47, a restaurant and bar with a capacious back yard on Vernon Blvd in Long Island City, has had a tough time making peace with some neighbors who say the noise and smoke from the patio is unbearable. Next door neighbor Beth Garrett and her husband have installed large signs on their property begging Lounge 47 patrons to pipe down, and a growing group of locals want the State Liquor Authority to revoke the liquor license, which was recently renewed. (The Garretts have also been accused of spraying their hose over the fence onto diners.) The current owner is now trying to sell the place, but the potential buyer wants to make sure he'll be able to transfer the liquor license. more ›

Over a dozen local residents who live (if you can call it that!) near the Thompson LES Hotel on Allen Street showed up at a Community Board 3 meeting last night to complain about traffic congestion, rowdy tools crowding their sidewalks, and noise noise NOISE echoing up into their windows from the newly-opened third floor rooftop pool bar. (Which, it should be noted, is open only to hotel guests—or anyone who gets a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant Shang!) How obstreperous are those bastards drinking and swimming and digesting Susur Lee's lamb chops? Well, one neighbor says their opening parties were so loud she couldn't hear her TV. Clearly, this monstrosity must be razed or urinated on at once. more ›

Last week Brooklyn's Community Board 6, which includes Park Slope, voted again to approve a proposed two-way bike lane along Prospect Park West, but they want the project revised to separate the lane from traffic by a raised median. The 16-4 vote decided that the painted buffer zone the DOT would use to separate the bike lane is insufficient; board members think the median is necessary to protect cyclists from cars and to protect children who may dash heedlessly from parked cars into the bike lane. Speaking to the Brooklyn Paper, board member and bike lane opponent James Bernard said, "This is a crazy idea that doesn’t make any sense. People want to do something good for bikes, but you are robbing Peter to pay Paul — and Peter in this case is safety of the children." 58 accidents involving motorists, cyclists and pedestrians were reported between 2005 and 2007 on Prospect Park West, where speeding is a constant problem. A DOT spokesperson promised that the agency would review the board's recommendations, and noted any revisions wouldn't delay the bike lane because the DOT isn't planning to install it until September anyway. more ›

The Community Board that oversees Coney Island voted last week to approve 20 amendments to the city's development plans for the area, and the changes are seen by some as suspiciously friendly to controversial developer Joe Sitt. The recommended changes include allowing big box retailers of up to 10,000 square feet in the amusement zone on Surf Avenue, dropping plans to turn the amusement zone over to the parks department, eliminating the threat of eminent domain against Sitt, and removing from consideration the construction of a "Wonder Wheel Way," a proposed central promenade through the amusement district. more ›

Much chatter followed Two Trees (David and Jed Walentas's) proposal for an 18-story residential building near the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO. The building would include a public middle school and "dozens of units of below-market-rate housing," but the Brooklyn Paper reports that neighborhood folk don't want to "block some views of the historic span." more ›

Brooklyn's Community Board 2 unanimously disapproved of the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory's application for a liquor license last week. Located by the pier at Fulton Ferry Landing in Dumbo, the ice cream parlor draws crowds of tourists and local families during the summer months. Mark Thompson, one of the co-owners, tells the Brooklyn Paper he's not looking to open a bar, but "it upsets me because here I have all these people on the pier looking for something to do, and I can’t give them anything else. I just want to make the pier a positive experience instead of standing there and looking at the view." Because views are boring sober! In withholding support for the license application, which could still be approved by the SLA, members of CB2 expressed concern about serving alcohol in a place where “two disparate age groups” gather. Others felt there isn't enough space on the pier to accommodate crowds on a sugar high and booze buzz. more ›

A proposal to increase a Greenpoint waterfront building from 30 stories to 40 stories was approved by Community Board 1 last night. Curbed is a little stunned, noting that "the vote was practically unanimous" and "that no one from the community showed up to object." The developer argued for the extra 10 stories because the lot (which he paid $84 million for) has limitations, due to a sewage line; the city's upzoning law had previously only increased the maximum height to 30 stories. Though there are more approvals needed, Curbed just adds, "the real issue is who is going to finance a 620-unit rental building in this part of Greenpoint right now." more ›

A compromise may be in sight between those who would rid Prospect Park of cars and community groups who say such a change would clog their streets. The Brooklyn Paper reports that at a Community Board 7 meeting in Brooklyn last night, Transportation Alternatives revised its call for an immediate ban, instead proposing narrowing the park to one car lane. About 600 motorists pass through every hour, and the thought of a full ban had board member Cynthia Gonzalez asking, "They want us to redirect 1,200 cars [each morning and evening] onto our streets, for how many bike riders?" Wiley Norvell at Transportation Alternatives tells us, "Our single-biggest issue with cars in Prospect Park is the danger they pose to park users. Speeding and reckless driving are rampant, and a 'road diet' would go a long way to improving the situation, without bumping up against the traffic concerns that have been raised south of the park." more ›

The incident that took place on Bedford Avenue on Election Night (you know...riot gear, arrests, etc) lived on last night at the 94th Precinct Community Meeting. NewYorkShitty has a rundown (with video), reporting back that Captain Fulton was on hand to field questions and concerns, as well as locals (both young and old). "Overall it was a pretty ugly meeting. The reason for this had little to do with Captain Fulton. Rather, it had to do with how the 'old guard' treated the younger people present. For example: When Aaron Short (of the Greenpoint Courier and BushwickBK) asked if this was 'a generational issue'," crowd responses allegedly included: "The issue is order over anarchy!" and "Too lenient!" In the end, a sit-down "with people present on Bedford Avenue that evening who felt the police acted inappropriately" has been promised. more ›

Though most of the neighborhood around the Gowanus Canal has not yet been rezoned for residential construction, one development company has just won approval for a big condo project with buildings up to 12 stories high and a public park along the canal. Blogger Pardon Me For Asking sat through a "long and drawn out" Landmark/Land Use committee meeting last night (so we didn't have to). She calls the near-unanimous vote "a sad outcome for the community":

Let me just say that no amount of testimony from concerned residents at last month's meeting, no concerns about pathogens in the waters of the canal, nor warnings that the land is in a flood zone were able to sway a majority of our board members from voting yes for Toll's spot rezoning.

It was rough sledding last night for restaurant and bar owners seeking liquor license approval from Community Board 3, which covers the Lower East Side and the East Village, among other 'hoods. Perhaps the biggest loser was fastidious cocktail impresario Sasha Petraske (Milk and Honey), whose humble request to serve wine at his would-be wine bar Mercury Dime (pictured) on East 5th Street was mercilessly shot down, despite the fact that he's operated Milk and Honey on Eldridge since 2000 without a single noise complaint. more ›