From the Times Ledger:A new restaurant in Middle Village appears to be pleasing diners with its high-end Italian food, but some neighbors are complaining that its old-style wood-burning oven is giving them a face full of soot.
La Bella Cucina opened Sept. 4 at 69-61 Juniper Blvd. South and soon afterward hosted a Republican fund-raising dinner for City Council candidate Tom Ognibene and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Its Web site touts its authentic, brick-oven pizzas.
But neighbor Bernice McCormick told Community Board 5 in October that black smoke pours from the restaurant’s wood-fired oven most of the day, making her eyes burn.
CB 5 District Manager Gary Giordano said he had written to the owner asking her to stop using the oven and contacted the city Department of Environmental Protection, which issued a $400 violation against the restaurant Oct. 14 for odor emissions from the smoke. The restaurant is slated for a hearing on the violation Nov. 30.
“I thought maybe that did some good, but then, like the last two Sundays, it was pretty bad when I passed by,” he said.
A DEP spokeswoman said the agency had received 10 complaints involving the restaurant between September and the beginning of November.
The DEP said it recommended the restaurant either use a different fuel to light the fire in the oven before switching to wood or install a filtering device on the chimney to reduce smoke and odor.
Photo from News Blaze
29 comments:
I would be more worried about the train emmissions than some chimney smoke. Besides, look at how beautiful they made that eyesore buidling that was there.
What about fireplaces. I smell one on my block all through the winter.
Why can't they have their name in English? Don't they know this is America?
Does this mean I can file a formal complaint against the illegal multiple family dwelling next door that cooks fermented, dried fish that smells like an old unwashed Waste Mgt dumpster?
How about when they cook the same on charcol grill on the balcony in the front of the house? Any suggestions on how to fight this and the smoke from the resturant in MV?
Smelling the smoke from fireplaces and having it blow into your house are two different things.
I would'nt worry about the smoke,. I ate their recentlty and found it to be an over priced pizza place. I doubt they will last very long there. The food was'nt that good and the prices and service was ridiculous. Rosa's pizza has much better food at half the price.
I can't side with the restaurant owner here. I'm no tree hugger and I detest the DEP, however a business spewing that amount of untreated smoke into the community isn't prudent for a steward of the earth.
I'll only go so far with resident complaints living near a commercially zoned area. It's important to understand what you're buying into when making a home purchase.
The decades-old vermin-infested railroad borders the property. The location is entirely wrong for a restaurant.
The area is not commercially zoned. It is 100% residentially zoned.
The buildings at the cross-section of Juniper Boulevard South and 69 Place operated in a commercial capacity for decades. When did rezoning occur?
Have you ever been down the railroad tracks to see WHO and what lives down there? Every person who lives in Middle Village should go take a walk there. Easy access is gained through the end of 71 Street by Our Lady of Hope. What you'll find is amazing.
Anonymous said...
Why can't they have their name in English? Don't they know this is America?
Saturday, November 21, 2009
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Unless you wrote this as a joke (very hopefully) why start now? How many Italian, Chinese, Japanese, French, Latin and other restaurants in this city have names that aren't in English?
The issue is emissions, not names.
Maltese, Ognibene and Gallagher promised to take care of cleaning up the railroad tracks and removing the trees along its Middle Village route. They never did. Maybe Crowley will.
Pinky's too busy still licking his wounds.
No, Pinky's running Peter Koo's campaign.
What about the deadbeats along 76 Street between Eliot Avenue and Caldwell Avenue? You ever look down there? They extended their backyards illegally onto the railroad's property. Some of them have freakin' swimming pools and gardens there. Nothing's done about that. The minute a homeless person shows up there, they complain. One of them left a shopping cart on Eliot Avenue this week. It's been there five days.
Remember how Ed Norton on the Honeymooners could always tell the time of the day when the aroma of the Hong Kong Garden's Moo Goo Gai Pan wafted up to his apartment?
Google map the place and view it in "satellite" mode. The restaurant sits on a triangular land parcel on Juniper Bvld. South, between 69th Lane and 69th Place. The intersection in question is Juniper Blvd. South and 69th Place. The rail road's (LIRR?) right of way intersects the intersection. It creates an odd set of land parcels, triangular in shape. 3 of the 4 parcels at the intersection seem to be commercial. The land itself may be rail road owned. Some of those right of ways are a century old.
Hey, now. The Hong Kong Gardens were for date nights before Ralph and Alice were married. ;@)
Speaking of trains...
Ed - "Ralph, do you mind if i smoke?"
Ralph - "I don't care if you burn."
I live in the vicinity of the smoke...when the weather is nice enough to open windows you can't otherwise your whole house smells...forget about hanging clothes out on the line to dry..just have to bring them in and rewash. I like the smell of campfires and fireplaces, I just don't want it in my home.
georgetheatheist said...
"Remember how Ed Norton on the Honeymooners could always tell the time of the day when the aroma of the Hong Kong Garden's Moo Goo Gai Pan wafted up to his apartment?"
Honeymooners???
What's that, one of those "silent pictures"?
:)
Sometime you just have to scratch your head and wonder why people do the things they do. First of all this restaurant is in the middle of nowhere. No walking traffic, no mall, no anchor store, nothing. So in order for them to bring in customers they will need to have an excellent reputation for good food . This is not how it is turning out. Then the issue of the families that have lived around the restaurant and now have to deal with everything that this brings including smells, noise, vermin, parking issues, garbage issues and so on. It's like they are saying the hell with all those residents I am building here whether they like it or not. I for one think businesses with this attitude should fail and I hope they do. Good riddance!
Why doesn't the owner of this restaurant just purchase some carbon offsets? That's the ticket! Ha!
Sarah said...
Sometime you just have to scratch your head and wonder why people do the things they do. First of all this restaurant is in the middle of nowhere. No walking traffic, no mall, no anchor store, nothing. So in order for them to bring in customers they will need to have an excellent reputation for good food .
Hey, if it's good enough for the Kommissar ... Well, 'nuff said. Hope that it tanks real soon.
And to you, Klink: Pow! Right in the kisser! To the moon!
i ate there the food was ok.. but i did notice the smell and i was inside the place when i made a comment. everyday would make me nuts if i had to smell it all the time.
@PizzaBagel
Baby, you're the greatest. *smmmmmooch*
I don't smell it!!!!!!!
Marie Holder said...
What about the deadbeats along 76 Street between Eliot Avenue and Caldwell Avenue? You ever look down there? They extended their backyards illegally onto the railroad's property. Some of them have freakin' swimming pools and gardens there. Nothing's done about that.
Because it's not illegal. If your land abuts railroad property (which is usually federally owned) you're allowed to "lease" use of the land for a small yearly sum (it was one dollar a few years ago, probably still is). Take a walk through Astoria and look under the Hellgate Bridge where it runs through backyards - everyone's using the property. Completely legal.
To Klink: Homina, homina, homina!
Why can't they have their name in English? Don't they know this is America?
Yeah, while your at it how about the German restaurants in Glendale. Oh thats ok I wonder why.
It's sad that you folks don't understand when someone's obviously being a wiseass.
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