Le Souk has really closed

On Friday, we heard that troubled hookah hotspot Le Souk had, indeed, closed after losing its liquor license.

I was curious if that was permanent. This sign now greets potential Le Soukers.



I asked Stacie, a resident who has lived nearby for a lot longer than the eight years that Le Souk has been around, for her take:

Yep -- it's closed. No dining, no drinking, no dancing, no parties. No bouncers, no crowds, no fights. No honking, no puking, no throbbing (music), no nothing.

With Le Souk's departure and the closure of Layaly, only one Hookah bar, the Horus Cafe, remains along the Avenue B corridor...

Report: No action taken yet on Le Souk (Update: "Two nights ago it finally closed down.")

In his "Mixed Use" column at The Villager, Patrick Hedlund follows up on the news last week that Le Souk is losing its liquor license. Residents who live near the hookah hotspot on Avenue B near Fourth Street shouldn't celebrate just yet.

Susan Stetzer, Board 3's district manager, said that despite the recent action, the club was up and running this past weekend.

"People that live in the area were celebrating the news, and by Sunday night they were complaining to the community board," she said.

The S.L.A. only has the power to confiscate liquor licenses and can't actually close the location. According to Stetzer, police at the East Village's Ninth Precinct had not been contacted about the ruling or asked to take any action.

"I must say, I'm a little frustrated," she added, recalling that after Le Souk's first cancellation, the club continued to operate for eight months. "It is really difficult to get any information on what the S.L.A. is doing about this."

UPDATE! Per the comments:

"I live across the street from Le Souk and couldn't wait for it to close! Two nights ago it finally closed down. No restaurant, no club, no bouncers, traffic, or underage squealers or fighters."

Previously.

Le Souk will have their liquor license cancelled

An SLA spokesperson told me: "[The SLA] will re-serve the cancellation order, which will terminate their liquor license."

From the State Liquor Authority:

COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS STATE LIQUOR AUTHORITY DECISION

Liquor Licensees Must Comply with SLA Rules Mandating Health and Safety

Albany NY – State Liquor Authority Chairman Dennis Rosen today announced the New York State Court of Appeals has upheld the SLA’s determination in the matter of 47 Ave. B. East, Inc. vs. the New York State Liquor Authority. Yesterday’s decision by the Court of Appeals reverses the order of the Appellate Division with costs, dismisses the petition of 47 Avenue B (doing business as “Le Souk”), and holds that the SLA’S findings that the licensee allowed the premise to become overcrowded and failed to supervise was supported by substantial evidence. Most significantly, the decision upholds the validity of the SLA rules, which provide the SLA with the regulatory power to ensure licensees comply with local health and safety rules.

On April 9, 2008, 47 Avenue B challenged a March 3, 2008 determination by the SLA canceling the bar’s liquor license. In an earlier lower court decision issued on May 21, 2009, the Appellate Division ruled in favor of the 47 Avenue B, finding that the record did not contain substantial evidence of overcrowding, that it was beyond the rule-making authority of the SLA to issue a rule requiring licensees “to insure that a high degree of supervision is exercised over the conduct of the licensed establishment at all times,” and that it was beyond the rule-making authority of the SLA to issue a rule requiring, “all on-premises licensees, regardless of type of premises, to conform with all applicable building codes, fire, safety and governmental regulations.”


“The Court of Appeals correctly found that the SLA must have the authority to act when bars break local laws,” said Chairman Rosen. “Bars that allow overcrowding or fail in their basic duty to adequately supervise their premises are often just setting the stage for more serious violations to occur. The Court's decision yesterday was essential for the SLA’s continuing efforts to ensure public safety at licensed establishments.”

This matter was handled by Senior SLA Attorney Scott Weiner, under the supervision of Thomas J. Donohue, Counsel to the Authority.

Previously on EV Grieve:
At CB3/SLA meeting: Le Souk denied; residents speak of "mayhem" and "crazy fistfights"; proponent suggests people would prefer living in Staten Island

"LE SOUK IS BACK!"

Your chance to nab a piece of junk from Le Souk

Other CB3/SLA highlights:

Thanks to an EV Grieve reader, we got a nice rundown on what happened at the CB3/SLA meeting Monday night. Given that the reader had plans for Thanksgiving, he or she couldn't stay for the entire meeting. (OK -- terrible joke.)

Eater's Gabe Ulla was able to stay for the five-hour mini-series. Here are a few more highlights from the night:

-- Billa NYC (82 2nd Ave., in the former Mission space), Uncle Charlie’s (87 Ludlow), Spina (175 Ave B), Tenzin and Tenzin (306 E. 6th), Wo Hop (17 Mott), Agnes and Eva’s Tasty Goods (243 E. 13th) and St. Dymphna’s (118 St. Mark’s) were all approved in their respective categories. In almost all cases, the board stipulated that restaurants cut down their hours of operation.

-- Thailand Café and St. Mark’s Burger were denied sidewalk café licenses.

The Lo-Down was also at the meeting and captured the spirited debate over Le Souk.

At CB3/SLA meeting: Le Souk denied; residents speak of "mayhem" and "crazy fistfights"; proponent suggests people would prefer living in Staten Island

As you read this, the CB3/SLA licensing meeting is just wrapping up (that joke never gets old!). An EV Grieve reader was there for part of the meeting and kindly filed this report. For that, we offer many thanks to this dedicated soul.

Things got off to a good start at 6:45 with the announcement that eight agenda items would not be covered, leaving only 27 matters to discuss.

After a brief discussion of budget priorities (largely a formality) the action got underway with Renewals with Complaint History.

First up was St. Dymphna's of 118 St. Marks, looking to renew its full liquor license. The board raised the issue of whether the establishment is allowed to utilize its back yard space, citing a 2007 DOB decision which indicated the back yard could not be used, and the fact that its SLA renewal application did not indicate a back yard space was in use, though it is. The establishment is under new ownership, and the current proprietor indicated he was not familiar with that DOB decision or the previous complaint history. The Board voted to approve the renewal with the stipulation that the back yard space not be used.

Next up was Spur Tree Restaurant of 76 Orchard Street, looking to renew its restaurant wine license. No one was present to represent the applicant, and the board voted to deny the renewal for non appearance.

Le Souk

That took us right to the main event -- Le Souk -- which was called in not to discuss a renewal but to address the complaints that have been lodged against it since reopening. The discussion started with a recap of the December 2008 board decision to not vote on the club's renewal, the club's license being suspended at that time. Six residents were then given an opportunity to speak. Le Souk's opponents described the improvements in quality of life during the time the club was closed.

One resident was quoted via letter as saying "life was so peaceful on Avenue B" during that time. Opponents reported that since the club has reopened, "all sorts of mayhem" has occurred, including "crazy fistfights" and "animal behavior." One resident opined about the nature of Le Souk patrons, stating that they "drive the taxi drivers to the point of insanity," a reference to the honking problem on the corner. It was also noted that the police do not ticket for honking on the corner of 4th and B despite posted warnings, purportedly because they are not able to determine which cars are doing the honking.

Seriously. One resident indicated that "life has been intolerable since Le Souk has reopened" and the letter writer was again quoted, saying "a superclub like Le Souk has no business in the neighborhood." Residents also cited loud music emanating from the club and Web site reviews which tout dancing going on in the club in violation of cabaret laws.

Two Le Souk proponents spoke in favor of the club, one saying that "the community was in shambles while Le Souk was closed," the argument focused on economics and the idea that this is not the time to shutter a club that brings much business to the neighborhood. He also suggested Le Souk is doing a better job now relative to the abysmal job it had done in the past (not the most ringing endorsement) and made a reference to some people maybe preferring to live in Staten Island.

Le Souk's proprietor indicated that traffic is a problem throughout the East Village and not a function of his club, saying in fact that he does not have a traffic or congestion problem in front of his establishment. He was then scolded by the board for failing to organize a meeting with residents to work through issues outside of the CB meeting process, as he had promised to do sometime in March. A member of the Le Souk management team indicated they would make the meeting happen this time. It was noted that Le Souk has 7,000 square feet of space.

By this point the room had become quite hot and a Le Souk proponent had to be directed by the board to stop speaking out of turn, one board member wondering aloud if security needed to be summoned. After much discussion of the language of the motion, the board voted to deny the renewal, when it comes up. In response to a direct question from a resident, asking if Le Souk would begin turning down the volume of its music starting this weekend, Le Souk indicated that it would.

Thailand Cafe

It was now 8:02. Still so early and only 23 agenda items to go. Next up was Thailand Cafe on 2nd Avenue, looking to add some manner of outdoor seating. The board expressed concerns with the already numerous outdoor seating arrangements on that stretch of 2nd Avenue, and whether the clearance depicted in the plans between the outdoor seating and bus shelter in front of the establishment would actually be as large as the plans suggest (15 feet). Residents were organized against the plan, 10 or so standing together to indicate their opposition. One suggested the idea of dining outdoors several feet from a stream of city buses would perhaps not be the best dining experience ever. There were also 23 letters submitted in opposition. The board voted to deny this plan due to bus shelter proximity and existing levels of sidewalk congestion in that area.

At this point one of the board members learned that an attendee was waiting to speak on the matter of Chickpea, agenda item 28, and let him know that the item had been announced among those canceled at the outset. Mercifully this happened two hours into meeting and not 10.

Cien Fueguos

Next up was Cien Fueguos LLC, looking to open a Cuban fine dining establishment at 95 Ave A. The owner and team made a fantastic presentation, top to bottom. They produced 1,000 signatures from East Village residents in support of their plan, 200 of them living in the immediate vicinity. Numerous residents spoke on their behalf including the owner of the building. The presentation included statistics on the prevalence of Cuban restaurants in Manhattan (there are just 43, and only five of those are considered fine dining establishments) which were compared to comparable statistics for Italian restaurants. The owner operates four other establishments in the East Village without incident and the management team's experience running orderly restaurants was touted, as was the fact that the venture will bring 40-50 new jobs to the neighborhood and include a sandwich shop. The board issued a favorable opinion on the application with basic stipulations, some of which the operating plan for the establishment already included.

(Someone said this owner is the guy behind Bourgeois Pig and Death & Co.. I thought Death and Company had some issues in the past, but am not sure. They were pretty clear about the owner running four places and not having problems.)




Caffe Bon Gusto

Next up was Caffe Bon Gusto, for which the sailing was not smooth. The applicant himself did not show up, instead sending two representatives, one of which seemed to be his attorney. The board noted that the application (for a wine license) was more or less identical to the application it rejected in September 2007. And that with only 10 signatures in support of the restaurant -- four of those from residents not in the immediate vicinity -- the applicant has not demonstrated that his establishment will provide a substantial benefit to the community, a requirement to secure a favorable opinion from the board in a resolution area. No residents signed up to speak for the club, but the applicant's attorney noted that no residents turned out to speak against it either.

Postscript

At this point our reader left. It was after 9 p.m.

How do they manage to get through 27 agenda items? I can't fathom it.

"LE SOUK IS BACK!!"

Concerned residents forwarded me the copy of this message...

Residents of E 4th Street and Avenue B area,
PLEASE, WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Have your sleepless nights returned? Have you noticed that the noise and mayhem on Avenue B and the adjacent streets has returned?

LE SOUK IS BACK!!
Unfortunately, sad but true, the case against them was dismissed on a technicality and they are open under temporary license and coming up for a license renewal hearing in the next week or so. If you want to maintain your sanity and get some sleep at night, here are somethings you must do for yourself and the good of the community;

(FYI - Le Souk's Address is 47 Avenue B btwn 3 & 4 Streets)

1. PLEASE phone the SLA right now Complaint Hotline
(212) 961-8378. EVERY day counts. EVERY complaint/voice counts.
SEND your complaints and comments to the SLA.

2. If you'd prefer not to call, here's an easy link to file a complaint to the SLA.

3. As per Susan Stetzer, our CB3 District Manager, everyone must call 311 when the noise is crazy so that the complaints will be logged into the system. They will give you a complaint number which you should then send via email to Community Board 3.

4. If you prefer to send a snail mail letter to the SLA, you may do so at the below address.

PLEASE send a letter protesting this to

Attention: Dennis Rosen
New York State Liquor Authority, Zone One
317 Lenox Avenue, 5th floor
New York NY10027
Please CC: Susan Stetzer who is monitoring the situation. sstetzer@cb3manhattan.org

5. Please come to the CB3 meeting on October 19th at 6:30p to voice your opinions. Le Souk is on the calendar for that meeting.

SLA/DCA Licensing Committee
JASA/Green Residence
200 East 5th Street at Bowery

PLEASE TAKE ACTION ASAP!!!! It will only take a few moments, and the relative peace we had when Le Souk was closed - is at stake !
Thank you for your support.

contact us at: E4StBlockAssoc@yahoo.com

Photo by Yun Cee Ng via.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

The return of the Fedora (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

38 Delancey ready for action! — Except for the part about not having a Web site (BoweryBoogie)

Matt Harvey talks to Richard Hell about "Destiny Street Repaired (NYPress)

A new Figaro Cafe for Bleeker? (NY Barfly)

Fight turns deadly at Project Rescue shelter on the Bowery (Runnin' Scared)

OTB is broke; has a fleet of 87 cars (The New York Times)

Former police cadet robs Avenue A bank branch (Daily News)

Crooks posed as cops for ATM holdup on 13th Street and Avenue B (NY1)

The history of Wigstock (Ephemeral New York)

The Post rips off another blog (New York Shitty)

"Kiss Loves You" plays Friday at the Anthology Film Archives (Slum Goddess)

Save the date for the Lost New York conference (Patell and Waterman's History of New York)

Old Yankee Stadium continues to be torn down (Demolition of Yankee Stadium)

The lead to yesterday's TGI Friday's feature in the Post:

It's Friday night, and an unruly parade of tipsy, young New Yorkers spills out from a popular Manhattan bar and onto the sidewalk, blocking foot traffic and drawing complaints from irate neighbors.

But this isn't the East Village, and the bar in question isn't Le Souk.

The year is 1965, and the new hot spot is T.G.I. Friday's -- Friday's for short -- on the northeast corner of 63rd Street and First Avenue.

And now on newsstands...

Noted

From Page Six:

IT'S casting time for "Sex and the City" extras. Producers of the sequel starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon are holding a "cattle call" Thursday at the soon-to-open restaurant Le Souk on LaGuardia Place. "They're looking for Middle Eastern people for a scene where the girls go to a club in a Middle Eastern neighborhood, so it's fitting they're holding it at a hookah lounge and restaurant," our spy said.

Here comes the fear again: “THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK”

Eater and Grub Street have the news on the rebirth of LeSouk on Avenue B ... And here Grub Street's take:

We just received an e-mail with the subject line “THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK,” and the content is indeed enough to strike fear into the hearts of East Villagers. On Monday, Le Souk will reopen its doors after six months on hiatus following the loss of its liquor license and a successful lawsuit against the SLA. But residents of Avenue B, take solace: A spokesperson tells us that while the operation will be more or less the same at first, it may become more of a restaurant once its second, clubbier location in the Horus space at 510 Laguardia, Le Souk Harem (which will serve French-Moroccan cuisine but with more of an emphasis on the French), opens around Fashion Week. Details are still up in the air (we’ll keep you posted), but this much is certain: The beast has arisen.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: LeSouk to continue haunting the East Village

Your chance to nab a piece of junk from Le Souk

As Down by the Hipster noted May 22, Le Souk had its liquor license reinstated ... before that, though, there was talk the longtime bane of lower Avenue B (as Eater aptly described it) was relocating to Bleecker and LaGuardia...

Meanwhile, Le Souk must be doing a little late spring cleaning. Which may explain why someone at Le Souk left a bunch of crap on the sidewalk last night... I call dibs on the empty keg!

"If your establishment needs to hire a guy in an orange vest to direct traffic around your club every Friday and Saturday night..."

Crap, is it Thursday already? I meant to share this entertaining and informative reader comment earlier this week. Upon hearing the news last Friday that Le Souk had its liquor license reinstated and was planning on staying in the East Village (as reported first by DBTH), WB had the following to say:

One thing that need not be guesstimated is how much that place sucks.

Jokes aside, Le Souk did go before the Community Board in December. It was "following protocol" should this very thing happen. See here.

And so here we are. Hello.

Many spoke at that meeting. The tone was generally not positive as Le Souk went. It is true that some spoke up for the club, but a fair number of the pro Le Souk comments revolved around the tenuous idea that there exists no middle ground between circuses like Le Souk and the East Village of decades past (see reference 1). On the other hand the anti Le Souk crowd made consistently reasonable points. For example, if your establishment needs to hire a guy in an orange vest to direct traffic around your club every Friday and Saturday night, it's quite possible that your establishment has outgrown its environs.

Anyway, after everyone spoke their minds, the CB ruled that it would be inappropriate for it to make a decision at that time, since the license was suspended. It seemed like an odd decision at the time, given what was said and the place's history.

Now, I am not an attorney but I'm not certain that today's ruling means that Le Souk is on the fast track back to serving $24 Jägerbombs (reference 2). It sounds as if Le Souk needs to reapply for its license, which one would *guess* involves a recommendation yay or nay from the CB. And I can't fathom the CB giving it twelve thumbs up or whatever. The only thing Le Souk has going for it is that it has been closed for months and hence hasn't racked up more violations. But I don't fully understand how this machine works.

Anyway, if you ever have free time, the Community Board meetings are very interesting. It's a good look into one of the larger factors shaping our neighborhoods.

WB

Report: LeSouk to continue haunting the East Village

Down by the Hipster has the story: "Bad news for Avenue B residents — Le Souk's liquor license has been reinstated. In a shocking decision, the New York State Appellate Division, First Department overturned a decision that resulted in the cancellation of Le Souk's license, saying it was "not based upon substantial evidence because it relied on a 'guesstimate' in determining that Le Souk was overcrowded on the night of Jan. 13, 2007.'" (Via Eater)

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Why you won't be able to see the July 4 fireworks very well this year on your EV rooftop (NewYorkology)

Le Souk is leaving Avenue B (Eater)

A makeshift first concert in TSP this spring (Little Stories and Maybe Poems From Now and Then)

Can the old Delphi space survive Bouleyville? (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

At the Worker and Immigrant Rights rally (Slum Goddess)

Horizonless Manhattan (Esquared)

Study break on Avenue A? (Neither More Nor Less)

L Train riders mock Stuy Town (Lux Living)

Jim Jarmusch likes to walk (Filmmaker)

Capturing a hidden part of Hudson Street (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Finding gold and silver on Stanton (BoweryBoogie)

Times Square terror courtesy of Nic Cage film (New York Post)

Remembering the Revolutionary

Streets around Tompkins Square Park were blocked off yesterday for the crew to shoot something for that ABC series Cupid. I tried not to pay attention. I usually don't. However, last summer, before I was doing this site, I shot some photos of what promised to be an enormous project in the neighborhood.


The ominous-looking fliers went up several days before the blessed event was taking place on June 8. As the flier showed, the movie would feature Kate Winslet (ohh!) and directed by her husband Sam Mendes. The movie is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. The flier failed to mention other co-stars, such as the leading man. You may have heard of him, an up-and-comer who I think has real potential -- Leonardo DiCaprio, who would be making a triumphant return to the East Village, where he shot parts of The Basketball Diaries in late 1993 and early 1994.

Anyway, as the week went on, more and more equipment was assembled around Tompkins Square Park. This thing promised to hog up most of Avenue B between 6th Street and 10th Street. Plus the north side of 7th Street between Avenue A and C. (Good lord, where would people heading to Le Souk this Friday night park!)

I chatted up some poor bastard who had to sit there in a folding chair and guard a truck. Turned out they were only filming interior shots at 295 E. 8th St. at Avenue B. That regal-looking building on the other side of the street from St. Brigid's was erected in 1887. It was known as Newsboys' and Bootblacks' Lodging House as well as Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School, Children's Aid Society. Parts of Jim Sheridan's movie In America were filmed there a few years back too.

Anyway, after all that, the filming wasn't as disruptive as I thought. (I'm open to horror stories, please.) In fact, it was pretty mellow, as least what I saw of it. No obnoxious PAs barring residents from their homes or sidewalks, etc. No screaming fans looking to mob Leo (guess that's why his name wasn't on the flier). It was a pleasant change of pace from some of the other obnoxious shoots around the Park. The movie comes out here on Dec. 26. 

Earlier on EV Grieve:

Why the East Village will be a mess tonight and tomorrow

UPDATED:
Bob Arihood shows how Cupid disrupted the neighborhood, particularly the business at Ray's. (Neither More Nor Less)