Wayland owners hosting a neighborhood Q-and-A tomorrow night about new venture at 157 Avenue C

[Image via Instagram]

Last week, we reported that Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall, who own The Wayland at 700 E. Ninth St. at Avenue C (as well as Good Night Sonny on St. Mark's Place and First Avenue), have plans to open a new bar called The Drift in the current Royale space at 157 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

Next Monday, Ceraso and Mendenhall will appear before CB3's SLA committee to apply for a new liquor license for No. 157. (The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.)

Ahead of that, Ceraso promised to hold a Q-and-A with neighbors who may have any questions about the new venture... or anything else related to his bars. Below, Ceraso provides details about the meeting... as well as responds to some of the comments in the previous post accusing him of running a loud bar, etc.

My bars follow all the rules. Close our doors on time. Always monitor our noise levels. Serve food all hours. Have responsible security staff and managers/owners on site every day. Always do what we say we are going to do at CB3 SLA meetings.

We have no tvs, we never participate in bar crawls or Santacon, don’t offer boozy brunches and The Wayland keeps live music alive in a neighborhood that has lost most of it’s music venues, 4 nights a week as a labor of love. We have strong relationships with our neighbors at 700 E. Ninth St. and we have gardens on both sides of our bar with no direct neighbors across either street.

So I ask myself, who could I be offending with my bluegrass and dixieland live music and mostly rock 'n' roll soundtrack for the rest of the evenings?

I was going to do a Q-and-A for 157 Avenue C anyway, why not start a monthly meeting where our neighbors can not only talk to me but also maybe down the road we can get some other business owners involved as well?

This Tuesday Jan. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m., I’m hosting a meeting at The Wayland for anyone who has questions or concerns about anything we are doing, including The Wayland, Good Night Sonny and 157 Avenue C. Refreshments will be served.

Hopefully we can have some good discussions about living together and maybe some of your more adamant commenters will show up and meet us face to face.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Wayland owners now eyeing Royale space for The Drift on Avenue C