Paulie Gee may sling some of the best pizza in the city but that hasn't necessarily won him friendships with his neighbors in Greenpoint, some of whom are launching a campaign to block his new sports bar coming soon to Franklin Street. A group of residents on Noble Street, the street at the intersection where Paulie Gee's Slice Joint will open up, have started a petition to block the pizzaiolo from obtaining a liquor license for the 110 Franklin Street space.
The petition's signees are aggrieved about a multitude of what they see as potential quality of life issues surrounding what Paul Giannone refers to as a classic slice joint and sports bar. Many of the petition's postings point to Noble Street's quiet residential character, in addition to the Greenpoint Shul just up the block.
"This block is a zoned historical district, filled with many young families and different types of residents that pride the fact we have a quiet, peaceful block," one of the petition's signers said. "I have lived here for 14 years and have two young children. There has never been a bar or restaurant on Noble street, as it is filled with houses and small apartment buildings."
In the immediate vicinity of Noble Street and Franklin are several bars and restaurants, including French bistro Le Gamin and Brooklyn Safehouse, and across the street is the Brooklyn EXPO Center, which regularly hosts food and beverage events and draws in big crowds from outside the neighborhood.
"We live near the venue—where Paulie has confirmed there will be large garage-style/size windows that will be entirely open—on Noble St," Greenpoint resident Katie O. told Gothamist via email this afternoon. "The noise and foot traffic on the residential street will suck, for sure. But mostly I'm concerned about alcohol-fueled arguments/violence, especially for my neighbors' young kids. I don't want our stoop (which we share with them) to be full of boozed up, aggressive people. Mostly I don't want the eight-year-old (or their 14-year-old) to ever be in danger—or feel that they might be."
At a meeting called by the community on Monday evening—Giannone says he wasn't invited but noticed a sign posted outside the restaurant Sunday evening so he attended—Giannone became agitated, "shouting at several people in attendance," according to O., who was in attendance (Giannone confirms he became frustrated). O. says that, at one point, Giannone challenged another resident, asking, "Do you have windows? Well, close them!" a claim that Giannone doesn't deny.
"People were calling me a liar," Giannone said via phone this evening. "I got upset about it. I did raise my voice."
Residents also feel Giannone misrepresented his business as a "slice joint" when to them it seems more like a bar.
Giannone confirmed that plans have changed slightly from his initial proposal—away from the bar concept. "The important thing is that since I first decided to open I have changed my mind about it being a sports bar in the rear and have decided to make the whole space a slice shop with a bar that only serves wine and beer," Giannone says. "They didn't believe anything I told them. I've had a pizzeria that serves wine and beer for six and a half years and haven't given anyone any trouble. That doesn't matter to them."
"Obviously the neighborhood's changing, and that's fine—I don't want to be a curmudgeon," O. continued. "But if Paulie were to make the Noble Street side of the venue a wall rather than floor-to-ceiling open windows/doors, and have entry/exit purely available on Franklin Street (which is commercial) I genuinely think most of the community members would be thrilled."
While garage-type doors on Noble Street will be open during temperate days, Giannone says he promised to close them by 11 p.m. each evening and that the doors would only be used as entry and egress points as an ADA-compliance and for emergencies, not for general use by guests of the restaurant (they'll use velvet ropes to keep people inside). The entrance and exit to the restaurant will only be on Franklin.
So far, the petition has 139 signatures from both current and former residents of Noble Street and presumably the surrounding Greenpoint area and beyond. A group of residents are also planning to attend tonight's CB1 meeting to voice their concerns about the bar's proposed beer and wine license. Historically, even if a Community Board has voted against a liquor license, the SLA has made their own ruling. In a similar vein, West Village residents' long-fought battle against legendary speakeasy Chumley's was lost and the bar recently reopened under new ownership.
Giannone says he feels blindsided by the backlash and opposition where he's made roots with his business and his home. "My pizzeria is my life, I'm here six nights a week. I talk to the customers. It's my life."
