Last Wednesday, the team behind troubled nightlife multiplex Ludlow Manor faced a hearing before the State Liquor Authority (SLA). In December, you may recall, Community Board 3 refused to support an expanded liquor license for the huge club in light of what CB3 members called “multiple misrepresentations” by the owners. But the community board’s decisions are only advisory; it was the SLA’s decision to make.
Man-about-town Steve Lewis blogged about the hearing on the BlackBook web site on Friday. Here are the pertinent excerpts:
A special friend has relayed the information that Ludlow Manor, that ambitious club/lounge/(restaurant?) had an awful time with the New York State Liquor Authority at the full Board Meeting Wednesday. Nobody got hung or shot, but they did get buried with being forced to turn in the liquor license for safekeeping the end result… Ludlow Manor is fronted by Georgie Seville and GaGa’s exLuc Carl, something the board took note of. The Times reported that Luc called himself an owner and, by SLA rules, that isn’t strictly true. It is merely a harmless exaggeration club-runners use to describe themselves when they often own nothing more than their wardrobe. I wont reveal the names of the real owners here. His and his attorney’s attempt to calm the savage beast of the board bordered on comical. The board wanted to know why they weren’t serving food, a basic condition of their license.They pointed a finger at universally hated Con-Ed, which hadn’t gotten around to giving them gas. The board asked if they currently served any food at all while waiting for power. They answered cold sandwiches. When pressed about what kind of delicious and nutricious sandwiches they were offering, they replied peanut butter and jelly… and also turkey… When asked about why the upper two unlicensed floors were operating, fingers were pointed at a no-longer-employed bad, bad publicist. The club’s lawyer was less than dynamic. The board was less than sympathetic. A $10,000 fine was assessed and the license grabbed until a fully functioning kitchen appeared, at which time another hearing would be held.
The state approved Ludlow Manor’s ground-floor liquor permit last fall. The owners, who also operate “The Delancey,” sought permission to serve alcohol on the second and third floors. At the community board hearing, the club’s attorney said Carl was not an owner, and anyone who claimed otherwise was “making an erroneous statement.”
The license is now listed on the SLA’s web site as “inactive.” We have a call into the Liquor Authority for more details.
