Spotted by Derek Berg this morning outside Ballarò on Second Avenue between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street... the sidewalk chalk sign reads "We do not play Taylor Swift here you cunts. Grazie."
Not sure who left the message... the cafe or some patrons upset by the lack of Tay Tay on the sound system. (Updated: Read the comments for more on what happened here.)
How about they write: "Keep your fuckin' voices down inside this (or any) restaurant where others have come to have a pleasant experience!"
ReplyDeleteYeah we are not down with that crap music in the EV. We like Mumford & Sons and Kanye West.
ReplyDeleteMumford & sons yes.... Kanye..... Mehhh...
DeleteI'm right around the corner from Ballaro and have stopped going in the evenings. They keep the music up so loud, even when the restaurant is empty, it's impossible to have an enjoyable time. I don't know if it's the unattentive waitress (on her cell phone and ignoring customers) or the management that insists on this high decible music...
ReplyDeleteHa!! I love it!!!
ReplyDeletei was there! the problem is that people don't know how to handle alcohol
ReplyDeleteI was actually there last night and a big group of drunk people were abusing the bartenders and yelling at them to play Taylor swift.. They actually did play 2 Taylor songs to try and please them. Then they started booing because she didn't play the right one.. Then they caused a big fight and wrote those stupid things that don't even make sense. This is the best bar in the EV.
ReplyDeleteANYONE who requests that bubblegum music is a C U N T Y CUNTERSUN.
ReplyDeleteHey, Anon @ 2:56 PM: You mean that the bartenders were still serving the big group of drunk people? Ha ha! That's a violation of the NYSLA liquor laws! That bar can lose their license, the owner and bartenders can be fined and/or jailed for that.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding of course about the license, fines, and jail parts. NYSLA doesn't enforce their laws. Ha ha.
https://www.sla.ny.gov/register-a-complaint
Near riot over Taylor Swift. Just sad.
ReplyDeleteWho can hear music over the ear-splitting cacophony of millennial narcissists shouting inanities at each other?
ReplyDelete@2:31pm
ReplyDeleteSadly; incredibly loud music is important to the bar food chain/mission statement...
1. Play ear-splitting music so the only patrons you have are young people (lots of money to burn because they have few responsibilities and are still young enough to constantly drink heavily) with good enough hearing that they can understand conversation despite the volume (they don't really converse nowadays anyway... The art of conversation is deaaaaad)
2. This keeps out old people who:
3. Can't hear anything anymore because in their younger days they went to bars with ear-splitting music
It's the perfect circle of life business-wise!
Or as Tay Tay would say: Welcome to New York.
ReplyDeleteC'mon you guys, they probably just wanted to hear music by some local artists and Taylor Swift was the only one they could remember.
ReplyDeleteThat's great and oh so true!
DeleteGreat way to raise the average IQ of America: round-up and exterminate people who listen to Taylor Swift's music. Our country is in crisis; we just don't need those "thoughtless" eaters in the gene pool.
ReplyDeleteRemember when you had to "enter" a bar or club to hear loud music.....
ReplyDeleteI really like that place, the owner is Italian, has been in neighborhood for awhile. He's usually there in the afternoons (it's more of a cafe during the day). Don't think they even have a full liquor license. Coming from another small business who is struggling to stay afloat, unfortunately to be able to do that, sometimes one must succumb to the new East Village. Not by choice, but landlords, the city, employees, insurance, vendors, and the list goes on, all need to be paid. Personally, I think it's great they said no more Taylor Swift. Judge all you want, but let me tell you that it's not easy to keep your doors open. The more the neighborhood complains about small businesses doing what they have to in order to stay open, the happier the landlords will be.
ReplyDeleteI feel for the neighbors after reading all these comments.
ReplyDeleteI own a small business here and I know it's not easy to stay afloat in the "new East Village" but changing the way your business operates so that it becomes a rowdy, loud, spring break type of business is still wrong. You cannot inflict this on your neighbors day after day so you pay your bills.
ReplyDeleteDear Neighbors,
ReplyDeleteAs one of the owners of Ballaro, I wanted to shed some light on the events that took place at my establishment this last Sunday night. In my eyes, it was extremely ridiculous. It’s easy to talk shit and to make snap judgements without ever knowing what truly took place, which is why I wanted to write this letter.
To start, I do not know who wrote that sentence on the floor outside of our place, but it was not me or anyone who works at Ballaro. That’s not who I am - I grew up in a family that taught me how to respect people the same... their skin color, race, religion, sexual orientation and age is never taken into consideration when I’m serving customers. I treat everyone with the upmost respect.
I know that I was offended, degraded and treated like shit by a group of 15 drunk people without any valid reason. They were screaming “BOO, YOU SUCK!” at me and my wait staff because Taylor Swift wasn’t playing on our sound system. I then played two Taylor Swift songs for them to placate them and they were dancing and singing all together so I assumed I had made my customers happy. However, after the two songs ended and the playlist moved on to other artists, they started complaining even more and it escalated. They started screaming that the songs I played weren’t the right one and I was told that, “this place is shit, the music and the people here suck.” I was then told to, “go back to your country with that fucking immigrant face.”
This was the point that I lost control and I finally broke under the consistent barrage of snarky comments to myself and my staff. We had done nothing but serve them and try to make their time as enjoyable as possible and we were all being treated poorly. I yelled at them to leave and asked them all to go.
One of the women in the group took out her phone and said that she was going to make a viral video so no one would come to Ballaro anymore. Now this, more than anything, upsets me because Ballaro is a gathering place for neighbors, friends, lovers and strangers alike. We have a community that gathers in Ballaro and we all love and support each other and welcome anyone in our restaurant and bar. To possibly lose all that because of someone’s tainted point of view on social media, would be the worst thing.
My mission is to make everyone who enters through the front door feel like they are at home, because sometimes New York hardens even the best of us and we forget the true values in life: community and peace.
I’m a dreamer, and as a dreamer I would love to change the world, starting even in the smallest ways. So please, let’s make LOVE VIRAL and not hate! If anyone is bothered at the way I run my wine bar, I’d love to have a calm conversation with them face-to-face. If you truly dislike Ballaro, than luckily there are a million other places in New York that you can go to. I can’t allow groups of belligerent drunk people to insult my bar, myself or my staff. This place is my heart and soul, and I need to protect that.
I’ve learned that everybody deserves a second chance and I have learned the importance of always responding in love, no matter what insults or hurt is thrown at me.
East Village, I hope you will be safe and sound, Taylor Swift or no Taylor Swift.
Sincerely,
BALLARO
PS - You know where to find me if you feel the need to come apologize and pay your $500 check, as you left without paying.
Don't let the bastards grind you down Ballaro.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that the young woman made a viral video - now none of her ilk will come to Ballaro and we can have our lovely neighborhood cafe/restaurant/bar back!!
ReplyDeleteBallaro is one of the few sanctuaries devoted to good taste and neighborliness left in the neighborhood. Hope we can keep it that way!!!
Instead of the C-word, hey, why not just call ALL of them entitled, fly-over state, parental funded, borderline racist, white privileged ass-holes and call it even?
ReplyDeleteI hope Taylor Swift somehow hears about this and addresses the issue with her fans. Though she is not responsible for this misbehavior, she seems to have some sway over them. Maybe, if she's generous enough, she'll cover that $500 tab plus a nice tip....
ReplyDeleteGawker picked up this story tonight and used your photo with zero credit. Not cool
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 10.32, thanks for drawing my attention to my uncredited and badly cropped photo. It seems they don't credit any photographer.
ReplyDeleteThat's my fault. I sent it in.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous10.32, thanks for the Gawker info.
ReplyDeleteTheft as Petit Larceny. The lowest-level theft offense in New York is called "petit larceny," or petty theft, which is the unlawful taking of property or services valued at no more than $1,000. New York law classifies petit larceny as a class A misdemeanor. (N.Y. Penal Law § 155.25.)
ReplyDeleteGet the camera footage from the other establishments.