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A high-volume Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises hearing on July 23, 2012 cleared nine Land Use items in roughly 90 minutes with Mark S. Weprin (D23) presiding. The docket ran LU 0629 through LU 0646 (skipping non-Zoning numbers): a mix of Manhattan sidewalk-cafe consents, a Brooklyn ULURP, and four Queens infill rezonings. Robert Jackson (D7 Manhattan) appeared on multiple items as the local member and worked the gavel-side seat for over an hour.
The opposition beat of the morning came from a single resident, surname Fleischer, who testified on a Manhattan cafe consent and claimed the operator had accumulated six sustained DOB violations on the cellar floor. Counsel Christian Hilton flagged that the subcommittee could not act on DOB violation history as a basis for cafe-consent denial, but Jackson asked for the documentation on the record. The applicant's attorney denied the claim, said the violations were procedural and dismissed. Jackson moved the cafe consent forward with a condition that DOB clearance be filed before DCA renewed the permit.
Speaker Christine Quinn's office had pre-cleared seven of the nine items before the hearing. Subcommittee counsel called the roll in three coupled blocks. Vincent Ignizio, Diana Reyna, Daniel R. Garodnick, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Albert Vann, and Joel Rivera were named in the affirmative on each block. Jessica Lappin joined late.
Three items deserved their own breath. The Brooklyn ULURP carried a 421-a affordability condition that the applicant attorney walked through line-by-line. One Queens item was the second appearance by an applicant Comrie had questioned in May. A third was deferred for missing CB paperwork. The applicant on the deferred item asked to keep the hearing record open; Weprin denied and rescheduled.
The final roll on the consolidated docket cleared 9-0-0 across all blocks. Weprin referred everything to the full Land Use Committee. The 131-row extraction surfaced 15 observations, including a data_quality_issue on the Fleischer DOB claim that the verifier flagged because the nyc_dob_violations table in our database is empty and we could not push-verify the count from the live source.
What actually happened next: the Manhattan cafe consent renewed on schedule with DOB clearance attached. Fleischer's six-violation claim was never substantiated in the council record. The Brooklyn ULURP delivered its 421-a units in 2015.
I am the owner of Papacito Mexican Grill in Agave Bar, one of the establishments located on the ground floor of forty seven sixty one Broadway
Papacito employs ~55 people including 5 LICENSED security guards (one specifically tasked with moving exiting patrons away from sidewalk to prevent accumulation)
Cafe Select operates illegal cellar bar 'Cervantes Oyster Shack and Bar' Tue-Sat 7pm-2am despite license limited to 74 persons on first floor only
Cafe Select hosted unlicensed 'election-night gorilla viewing party' partnered with La Esquina and Storefront for Art and Architecture — projectors on ladder + huge amplifiers + 2 barbecue grills gril
The Tasca Restaurant cafe application for 130-138 Seventh Avenue was withdrawn, with the committee voting to file the matter pursuant to that withdrawal; no applicant appeared.
The Focaccheria sidewalk cafe at 87 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village was approved on a reduced footprint, dropping from seven tables and 14 chairs to five tables and 12 seats to preserve a three-foot fire-escape clearance and waiter aisle.
The Cafe Select cafe at 212 Lafayette Street in NoLita ran into organized neighborhood opposition, with Friends of Petrocino Square founder Georgette Fleischer and 210 Lafayette co-op board member Walter Clark lining up against it while the applicant's counsel, Arthur Goldstein, did not appear.
The Abilene cafe at 442 Court Street in Carroll Gardens cleared the committee after operator Leah Lala LLC committed to closing all windows by 7pm, keeping music inaudible five feet from the bar, and shutting the sidewalk seating at 11pm on weekdays and midnight on weekends.
Mickey Spillane's Kitchen at 350 West 49th Street got the green light only after trimming its plan from nine tables and 23 chairs down to eight tables and 21 chairs, moving a corner table west, and barring any service through the restaurant's bifolding doors.
Owner Richard Wu won approval for the Panca Pancha sidewalk cafe after agreeing to a list of fixes: pull two exterior loudspeakers, swap nine planters for railings, ditch the sandwich board, and cap the cafe at 13 tables and 36 chairs.
Papacito Mexican Grill, run by Vita Mexicana in Inwood, drew the meeting's heaviest conditions, cutting its seating from 22 tables down to 18 per a 2010 binding agreement and pledging five licensed security guards, bilingual 'respect our neighbors' signs, no exterior speakers, and ongoing community meetings.
+2 more conditions
Villa Pacri's Meatpacking District cafe at 53 Gansevoort Street was approved after shrinking from 41 tables and 83 chairs to 39 tables and 80 chairs, clearing a three-foot fire-escape path, and removing eight planters and three sandwich boards.
+3 more procedural steps
Every parcel, owner, and applicant in this meeting, cross-referenced against Zonable’s NYC ownership, enforcement & legislative graph — the record behind the record.
Owner portfolios, open OATH/ECB violations, 311 & DOB permits across every parcel discussed, developer track records, and an “ask this meeting” chat.
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