As we tweeted in the wee hours this morning, another bar has been shuttered by the 7th Precinct. This time, it’s Welcome to the Johnsons at 123 Rivington Street. Last night, the NYPD and city attorneys showed up with a temporary restraining order, forcing the ironic 70’s theme bar to close its doors. On Tuesday, owner Frannie Marchese will be called in to State Supreme Court to answer allegations that Welcome to the Johnsons serves alcohol to minors and has failed to hire licensed security guards.
The underage violations detailed in court documents happened last December and in January, but the court didn’t authorize the temporary closure until Wednesday. Many Lower East Side bars have, of course, faced a similar fate in recent months. If the pattern holds, Welcome to the Johnsons will be allowed to reopen in about a week, after promising to beef up security and screening procedures.
Marchese owns two other LES bars – “151” and “St. Jerome’s,” and operated the defunct “Sushi Uo.”
PBR stock drops!
IN 1998- 3 of us- Marcia Lemmon (on Council Board_) Elsa Rensaa, and myself, Clayton Patterson, were kicked out of and banned from attending the 7th precinct Community Council meetings. This fowl deed was ordered by President Don West, and then 7th Commander Captain Cooper. The explosive questions we were looking for answers to were related to crime associated with all the new bars and liquor serving establishments. BANNED- for asking questions about the major escalation in the kind of crime that bars incubate.- assaults- broken windows, noise, thefts, rapes, and so on. All of a sudden we were being attacked by Quality of Life violations, as well as, all the over riding of laws, rules and regulations such as no liquor license within 500 feet of a school, or a religious establishment, or the distance between one bar and another- we were getting rows of drinking establishments. Captain Cooper said too bad we are now an entertainment Zone. “A what? I asked. Now that they won, and we lost, why are they now fining all the bars? Is this about getting off-duty cops for security and money for the city? In my area, the “Entertainment Zone” Quality of Life was never a real priority.
There’s a comnplaint in December/January and the establishment is forced to close mid-June…their peak season. Something is out of wack.
As one of the people who originally testified in favor of the 500 foot rule,I say it is about time that these bars face tighter scrutiny.My only question is why are they allowed to open so quickly?
Ransom for The Recycle Yard.
I remember noise was also an issue with Marcia,who received complaints from many of the long time residents including myself.Unfortunately in the 90’s,the seventh precinct was not as responsive as they are now.
good! One less
actually,in 1998 you were banned from attending 7th precinct community council meetings for disrupting meetings. i was there. you, marcia, and elsa had your specific agenda and worked to make sure that no one else was heard. your abuse of “ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER” every time a community member spoke was a blatant attempt to shut up anyone who disagreed with your agenda of keeping the neighborhood what it was – and at the time it was full of heroin dealers and gunfight. the bars have brought young people and money to a revitalized neighborhood. you can curse them now for raising the rents on you but you will curse their aftermath more when the bars are forced out and it is all starbucks and baby gap and your rent is QUADRUPLED.
I do not agree with your statement.”The bars have brought young people and money to a revitalized neighborhood”.The bars and along with the influx of yuppies and hipsters has done nothing but drive rents up,kick long time family buisnesses out,and create more noise and chaos.As a lifetime resident of the les,I preferred the way it was before.And by the way we already have a starbucks and other yuppie establishments.
I at least put my name beside what I write. If anyone is really interested in that period- in that night- and a few other meetings- we have videos and photographs from that period so we can go to the tapes. I guarantee I was not trying to shut up anyone- And as far as nobody else could talk- we are in a precinct house– it was never out of order. We were not trying to save the drugs and shootings in the neighborhood, we were against all the bars and all the crime connected to the bars- and there is now lots of crime- and no shortage of drugs. We were against this push to make way for the bars. We were anti- gentrification. How many bars did we needs? But as Captain Cooper argued– “We are an Entertainment Zone.” Where did he get that information from I do not know. At the precinct meetings other than the 3 of us- there was no problem for the gentrifiers- break the law- change the rules- use the police- and make an entertainment Zone. Rule #1 do not ask any real questions or you will be banned from attending the meetings. And sadly you are right- rents will go up- again- and again- as they clear out the bars– which now seems to be the game. And once again the police are being used as a tool of gentrification. It is the police closing the bars. Too bad that it was only the 3 of us trouble makers against the bars– the rest of you people sat around smiling like getting all these bars was a one way trip to heaven. Well this is not heaven– and once the bars are gone- yes you are right- it will just be corporate America– You want a hint of what to look for- go look at the base stores in Red Square. So good- sit back- keep quite- ask no questions- and enjoy the ride. Be a good boy and you will be fine- just fine.
This was one other issue that got the 3 of us banned from the 7th precinct community council meetings– Marcia wanted to look at the community council financial records. This should not have been a problem as the council is a non-profit, so the books are suppose to be transparent and open for public scrutiny. Besides Marcia was a board member so looking at the book should not have been a problem, but it was. Why? Another point that really ticked the 3 of us off was Don West, the president of the precinct council is a member of the public, not a member of the force, so why did he have a police parking permit? It is hard for a cop to get one of those official business parking passes. West would go to a bar on Ludlow Street put his permit in the window of his car and park illegally. I still think someone should examine the books- it is the publics right. Question- who on the board gets a precinct council business card and why would one need such a card?
As a person grows up and their tastes change, it is their responsibility to change their life in a way to suit their new wants and needs. If you find yourself requiring peace and quiet, then I think it’s time for you to move out of the neighborhood. It’s unfair for you to expect the city to change with you, rather than evolve on its own. Either adapt or find somewhere else that can accommodate your lifestyle.
I grew up in this neighborhood and have no intention of moving out anytime soon.I am a fulltime caregiver to an elderly relative,and live in a rent control apartment.Ludlow Street has been my home for over 30 years now.So are you going to tell all the lifelong residents to move out so you and everyone else who is part of the noisy bar culture can continue to ruin our neighborhood? Sorry,but a lot of us because of financial and or family reasons can not move,but we are going to fight for our neighborhood.
You have no right say that. You don’t know what is really going on. The media is never %100 correct and there are a lot of dirty back end things going on from the COPS. This is not what it is being made out to be.
You have no right say that. You don’t know what is really going on. The media is never %100 correct and there are a lot of dirty back end things going on from the COPS. This is not what it is being made out to be.
Googiefuzzy would rather go back to the days in which you could by heroin on every street corner of the lower east side. Because these bars have done nothing but ruin her neighborhood guys.
WE OPEN TODAY!!!!!!! We are back and ready for action. Come celebrate! 123 Rivington Street.
Guest typed:
“…the days in which you could by heroin on every street corner of the lower east side.”
Your point is lost, since the days when you could purchase heroin at will (what you describe as “…on every street corner…”) on the LES never passed. It is the case that the market is now much larger; and it is also the case that money laundering (especially through bars) via the East side, EV to LES, is a GTO running unobstructed and flat-out on a two-lane blacktop.
Drugs are commonly sold out of the deli on the corner of my street; and also out of the pizza joint around the corner. Those days of “…on every street corner…” never left; the trade just moved around slightly.
As a person matures, and decides to move into a neighborhood built by others for the raising of families and the building of community, that person is expected to comport in keeping with the expectations of adulthood. Such behavior is not defined as “adopt a fake New York attitude of talking down their snot-nosed face to the residents of the neighborhood in which they wish to live.”
The warping of a neighborhood into an alcoholic’s theme park is by no measure an evolution of a neighborhood, never mind a world class metropolis. It is a devolution, the boundaries marking out a particular sort of ghetto: one constructed by clueless caucasian newcomers.
There is still drug dealing on my block,except the clientele is a bit more upscale.We do not need the lawlessness of the bar and club culture.
sorry things have not changed for the better.In the old days,before the influx of the bars and clubs,we were able to get a good nights sleep.Sorry if I have no sympathy for the poor out of work former bar employees.