Super spreader party busted in South Ozone Park catering hall

 

Gothamist

A 200-plus-person party was busted at a Queens banquet hall early Saturday morning, according to the Sheriff's office.

At 1:40 a.m. Saturday, the Sheriff's office discovered approximately 215 people at the Queens Luxe Banquet Hall on Rockaway Boulevard in Queens.

The owner and three employees were given criminal court appearance tickets for violating emergency orders related to COVID-19, according to Sheriff Joe Fucito.

Partiers inside the hall were allegedly seen dancing, drinking alcohol without food, and smoking hookah without social distancing or mask-wearing.

Indoor gatherings with more than 50 people are prohibited under state coronavirus rules.

 

Woman lucks into an "affordable" apartment next to catering hall parking lot and cacophony ensues

Brick Underground

When Laura moved to an Astoria two bedroom with a roommate, she couldn’t believe her luck—at first. It’s affordable for her, in a great location, and has huge closets. But as with most things that seem too good to be true, it is. Her apartment looks out over the parking lot of Astoria World Manor—and it turns out that living next to an event space is anything but a celebration for Laura. Here’s her tale. 

I'm originally from Central New Jersey, but I've been in New York City since 2008. A few years ago, I was living in an apartment in Astoria near Broadway and Crescent and needed to move. My friend was looking for a share that was more affordable. We joined forces, but our apartment search was daunting. We saw quite a few duds. So, when we finally saw a two-bedroom apartment on Astoria Boulevard with a great layout, and best of all, huge closets, we jumped on it. 

The biggest bedroom (mine) is in the back of the building and faces the parking lot for the Astoria World Manor, an event space that looks like a place time forgot. I suspect looks the same as it did when it was built in the 1950s. When we took a tour with our real agent, he said, "Look, it's a parking lot! It'll be quiet!" Yes, I thought, parking lots are quiet. Little did I know...

It's hard to say the exact moment I realized my neighbor would be an issue, since I've been living there since 2012. But I quickly learned that folks leaving weddings, quinceañeras, and other parties fueled by alcohol are not quiet. I've listened to arguments, cries of joy, endless honking—I still have no idea why people need to honk at each other in a parking lot—and celebratory chanting. 

Sometimes the staff will hang out in the parking lot afterward, blasting music and yelling. I'm not sure what it is about that particular parking lot that makes people forget that they are surrounded by residential buildings. 

The worst noise, though, is the catering hall’s snowplow. For some reason it comes out at 2 or 3 a.m. when it snows and the grinding sound on the pavement is excruciating. I've left phone messages documenting the sounds, begging to have the plow wait until at least 6 a.m. I’ve even tried calling 311, to no avail.

In addition to all that noise, the place just seems to attract drama. One of the strangest things I've witnessed actually has nothing to do with the parking lot. My friend texted me asking if I was ok because she said a car had crashed into the World Manor! I ran downstairs to see and it was really a sight. I assume the car was trying to make a U-turn that turned into a K-turn and forgot to put the car in reverse. 

In general, I don't mind the noise that much, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s the parties on Sundays and weekdays that stretch until 2 a.m. that really get my goat. I listen to podcasts or meditation apps to help me fall asleep in general. Once asleep, I can usually get used to or block out noise, as long as it doesn’t last that long. However, the snowplow will usually wake me out of a sound sleep and keep me awake until the workers are done plowing. (Fortunately, we haven’t really seen snow this winter.) While I haven’t missed work because of the late-night noise, I have gone to work exhausted many times.

Former mob joint may turn into something interesting

I noticed the other day that the former Casablanca restaurant/catering hall, which was once owned by mob boss Joe Massino and seized by the Feds, has building permits posted. And it may one day soon become something useful! Check it out:

An end to the partying at the Jewish Center

From the Queens Chronicle:

The caterer at the Rockwood Park Jewish Center in Howard Beach, whom the synagogue accused of hosting weekend parties behind its back, is no longer working at the temple, according to Rockwood Park’s lawyer, Gary Rosen.

Crown Royale Caterers, which operated out of the Jewish center, has been accused by the synagogue of holding wild parties in the facility’s event space on a number of Saturday nights in 2012 and 2013.
The parties were reported first by the Queens Chronicle last May after several residents complained about loud noise and crowds in the community during and after the parties, often as late as 3 a.m.

The center filed suit against the caterer last summer to get their contract with it voided, arguing the parties were being held without the temple’s knowledge, and as part of a settlement between the two sides reached last month, the caterer agreed to leave the premises by April 30.

There were at least ten parties between early 2012 and November 2013, both before and after the center was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, according to residents who live near the building at 84th Street and 157th Avenue. Many of the parties were advertised on Facebook as taking place at “Rockwood Park Jewish Center” or “Rockwood Park Center” and most were Latin-themed. Hard liquor was also advertised in the promotional fliers even though the temple has had no liquor license since 2007.

Synagogue gets green light to evict caterer

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Rockwood Park Jewish Center has moved one step closer to evicting its caterers, who are accused of holding raucous parties on Saturday nights without the congregation’s knowledge that caused friction between the synagogue and nearby residents.

On Dec. 20, a judge in the state Supreme Court denied a request by J&M Catering, the parent company of Crown Royale Caterers, which operates in the Howard Beach synagogue at 156-45 84 St., to toss out a case the temple’s lawyers have filed seeking the eviction of the caterers and the voiding of the contract between the two sides.

Gary Rosen, Rockwood Park’s lawyer, said the decision now allows them to move forward with the eviction.

Richmond Hill Republican Club to become catering hall

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Richmond Hill Republican Club at 86-15 Lefferts Blvd. hasn’t hosted the political party in two decades, but the vacant building looks to be headed to a future of hosting parties of a different kind.

Ivan Mrakovcic, vice chairman of Community Board 9 and president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, said a group called Siberian Ice, LLC bought the property several years ago and is planning on reopening the building as a catering hall. Their plans for the building will be presented to CB 9 at its Oct. 8 meeting and the board’s executive committee got a sneak peek at the plans Tuesday night during a meeting at Borough Hall. The presentation is required because the owners are opting to file for a special permit under Section 74-711 of the city’s zoning regulations that allows the catering hall to operate at the site that includes the landmarked facade.

CB 9 Chairman Jim Cocovillo said the board was pleased with the plans for the building.

Jewish Center suing caterer

From the Queens Courier:

One Howard Beach synagogue is suing its longtime associate after discovering the group allegedly hosted wild parties after hours on the grounds.

Crown Royale Caterers has been licensed since 2005 to have various religious celebrations at the Rockwood Park Jewish Center. The group, run by brothers Joshua and Myron Gurelle, is supposed to cater events such as bar mitzvahs and weddings and inform the synagogue when it does so.

But Rockwood Park’s lawyer, Gary Rosen, said the caterer has consistently failed to keep the synagogue informed. They also allegedly throw loud parties and he claims the partygoers hang out inside and outside the 84th Street site until all hours of the night.

Rosen said he discovered party plans on social media that indicated Crown Royale was hosting raucous parties — and charging attendees — at the synagogue without officials’ knowledge. He also alleges he heard complaints from the surrounding residents.

New operator for Caffe on the Green

From the Queens Courier:

Patrizia’s of Bayside, the former site of Caffe on the Green and Valentino’s on the Green, has found a new operator, according to Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.

“We are very excited that a new concessionaire will be operating the former Valentino’s on the Green and look forward to the reopening,” said Lewandowski.

The new operator, 123 Restaurant Group is owned by George Makkos and Paul Nicaji. the pair who run the successful Battery Gardens restaurant in Battery Park. Makkos is also the operator of Terrace on the Park, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Can't cut it as a restaurant? Then how about a catering hall?

From A Walk in the Park:

Running A Private Business On Public Park land. The Parks Department revenue division is now permitting Parks-owned Patrizia's of Bayside - formerly Valentino’s on the Green - to close its lunch and dinner options to the general public to allow the concessionaire to exclusively focus on its catering services. Until further notice Patrizia’s will only open for its scheduled catered events. Difficult to see the public benefit here.

More of the story from the Times Ledger.

Donald cries 'uncle' on Jones Beach project

From Newsday:

Donald Trump and state parks officials have killed the developer's proposed and controversial $24-million Jones Beach catering hall-restaurant because of extensive damage to the park from superstorm Sandy.

Trump and parks commissioner Rose Harvey said Wednesday that they agreed to cancel Trump on the Ocean because its design, including a full basement, no longer made sense on the beachfront with the prospect of future storms like the one that hit Oct. 29.

The decision wipes out hope of what Trump had predicted would be 500 permanent jobs, as well as rent payments the state estimated would total $13 million over his 40-year lease. It also ended a six-year saga of litigation and renegotiation. Trump and the state agreed in June to a compromise that ended the court battle, and construction was slated for 2013.

Parks officials still hope to build something on the site of the former Boardwalk Restaurant at the Central Mall, but acknowledge they will have to start from scratch after repairing the storm damage.

The latest crap on the White House

From the Times Ledger:

The plan is now to scrap any renovations of the second floor. Instead, the cellar banquet room will be renovated and its occupancy will drop from 238 to approximately 100, according to Papa.

The first floor will function for catering and restaurant uses. Its occupancy, too, will fall from 324 to 200, according to Papa.

That would bring the occupancy for those two floors to 300 people, the number repeatedly described by Franco’s team as the occupancy for the renovated eatery, although the rejected plans submitted to Buildings pegged it at 705.

The second floor will only be used for storage and office uses, according to Papa.

Papa and Franco had originally described providing 110 parking spaces for the proposed catering hall, but in the scaled-down version they will provide 75 instead.

Franco also dropped plans to expand the footprint of the first floor, which Papa said will ensure the driveway will remain in the same place and not encroach upon a neighboring property.

Halloran playing games with Whitestone rezone?

From the NY Post:

"Unfortunately, many Italian-Americans in my district get painted with a very broad brush," [Halloran] said during a closed-door meeting last month with concerned civic groups.

He conceded Franco, a construction and catering entrepreneur, may "know people."

What Halloran didn't say was that Franco, 58, a Flushing native, was fingered as a soldier in the Gambino crime family by the FBI in a 1998 hearing about his brother, Salvatore, a former asphalt workers' union president.

Their late uncle, Giuseppe "Joe" Arcuri, was a mob captain who helped run the family while godfather John Gotti was in jail, testified former agent Bruce Mouw, who led the FBI's Gambino squad.

Franco is "a Gambino soldier for the rest of his life," insisted a law-enforcement source who said Franco is more involved in white-collar high jinks than any thuggery.

Sid Davidoff, Franco's lawyer, said his client is no gangster and has "never been accused of anything, including a parking ticket."

But the reputation of Franco's previous joint, Caffe on the Green in Bayside, isn't so savory.

In 1992, Franco won the Parks Department concession to run the restaurant in a historic Queens mansion on the edge of Clearview Park. Ten years later, a patron was shot there in an apparent mob rubout attempt. In 2003, an alleged wiseguy and his wife were charged with a hate crime after attacking an Asian woman there.

In 2008, an audit by the city comptroller found that Franco cheated the city out of more than $120,000 in proceeds from tips and party deposits.

The city stripped Franco of his contract, but he never paid up the missing funds, said mayoral spokesman Jason Post.

From the Queens Chronicle:

Opposition to expansion plans for the White House restaurant in Whitestone is growing, with area residents saying they were deliberately misled that the application was going to be withdrawn. But who did the misleading?

Following approval earlier this month by Community Board 7 on the plan to upzone the area surrounding the restaurant at 10-24 154 St., the proposal went on to the Borough President’s Office. The hearing was last Thursday, but the evening before members of the Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Civic Association were erroneously notified that the developer was pulling the application.

Marlene Cody, a vice president of the civic group, said she was told by a staff member of Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) that he was notified by the developer’s attorney, Steve Sinacori, that the plan was off the table. “We had a lot less people go to the borough president’s hearing because of it,” Cody said. “I feel he [Sinacori] lied.”

The attorney denied the charge.

Halloran’s spokesman, Steven Stites, said Monday that the councilman expected the plan to be pulled and was just as surprised as residents to find out it wasn’t.

But on Tuesday Stites said that there was more to the issue and asked that Halloran elaborate. In a telephone interview, the councilman called it a miscommunication with the civic association. “They misunderstood my message,” he said.

Halloran said he told members at a meeting last week that he wanted the item pulled from the borough calendar this month, but found out later it was too late. “I told them that they don’t need to go in droves to the borough president’s hearing because even if she approves it, I won’t as the sitting councilman for the area,” he said. “I promised them that I would remove the two houses on the block for the upzoning. I gave them my word that the council member carries the day.”

From the Queens Ledger:

In his letter, Halloran wrote that he still supports the redevelopment of the restaurant site but won't vote for the project in its current state.

“To reiterate, I support the redevelopment of the White House Restaurant site, but I do not support, and will not vote for, the rezoning of the residential properties located on this block,” read the letter.

In an interview, Halloran said that he still believes that the best way to accomplish that is by upzoning the site. Opponents of the project have suggested that rather than upzoning the property the owner should apply for a variance, but Halloran argued that would put too much oversight in the hands of the Board of Standards and Appeals, which would make the final decision.

“At least with an upzoning there would be a greater degree of control,” said Halloran, referring to the fact that the City Council would make the call on any rezoning.

But Paul Graziano, an independent urban planning consultant, said that in most cases a variance offers greater certainties that a rezoning can't guarantee.

“With a variance, the developer can't deviate from the terms of the variance,” he said. "However, with a rezoning it doesn't matter what plans have been shown to the community, after the rezoning a developer can do whatever they want, as long as it is by law."

Photo from the Daily News

EDC wining and dining out of control

From the Daily News:

An examination of Economic Development Corp. honchos' credit cards from July 2008 through March unearthed a stunning collection of unusual purchases on the taxpayer's dime. The bills generally have risen month by month during the past two fiscal years, growing from $5,870 in July 2008 to $18,226 in March. In December, they topped $20,000.

EDC executives have used their agency American Express cards:
* To buy four gold- and silver-plated shovels for grip-and-grin groundbreaking ceremonies. Total cost: $494.
* To fly participants in a "Next Idea" contest from India and Argentina and put them up for a week in the Manhattan Holiday Inn in January. The tab: $13,861. Winners and others that month got gold-engraved plaques valued at $370.
* For interoffice wining and dining.

Most city agencies follow rules that say payment for "modest meals and light refreshments" should be regarded as "an exceptional event." But officials at the EDC, a quasi-city agency that also collects rent on city properties, say they aren't subject to the same rules.

The city controller has chastised them for this position, asserting that the EDC is sloppy about how it spends its money.

Take, for example, the $112 the EDC spent on wine on May 22, 2008, at the Green Grape in lower Manhattan, listed as a "prewedding party" on the bill.

Asked by the Daily News to explain the expense, the agency released a statement saying it held a "congratulatory toast" for EDC Chief Operating Officer Tokumbo Shobowale at the agency's office.

EDC bosses "invited all 400 EDC employees to participate."

Records show EDC President Seth Pinsky charged $3,630 in March for a day-long event at the elegant Bayard restaurant near Wall Street attended solely by about 40 agency employees.

Then there was $3,000 for "companywide catering" - including coffee, dessert trays and miniature Italian pastries - from the gourmet Sale & Pepe in 2008 and last year.

Another $3,000 went for food and space rental for a companywide event at Water Taxi Beach at the South Street Seaport in October 2009, records show.

The agency also paid Fairway $600 to fete dignitaries like Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Rep. Nydia Velazquez with fruit and cheese.

Rowdy restaurant gets liquor license

From the Times Ledger:

A controversial catering hall in Floral Park that has drawn the ire of neighbors for its customers’ rowdy antics was granted a liquor license, prompting outrage from elected officials.

Residents said they saw customers bring in alcohol to Shahi Darbar at 83-47 258th St. and witnessed patrons having sex on top and inside their cars at night.

Other complaints included broken bottles of alcohol on the sidewalk, double-parked cars and loud noise.

A resident who asked not to be named said when he went to complain about some of the behavior recently, he was pushed by a Shahi Darbar employee.

Community Board 10 voted against a liquor license for Shahi Darbar last year, but the state Liquor Authority approved the application anyway in June without notifying the board about the hearing.

“We were very disgusted,” said CB 10 member Seymour Finkelstein, who lives near the establishment. “We feel that we had no say in the matter. Why weren’t we notified to the hearing?”

State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) wrote to state Liquor Authority Chairman Dennis Rosen July 27 asking the body to suspend the liquor license and set up a public hearing in the community.

“This establishment has become a nightmare for local residents,” the senator wrote.

Padavan said he has yet to hear back from the authority.

Shooting at Forest Hills restaurant

 

BSA grants noisy club a cabaret license

From the Daily News:

A controversial Forest Hills catering hall has finally secured a cabaret permit after months of fierce opposition from a local co-op that feared noisy, late-night partying.

But the city put so many conditions on the Royal Palace - such as restricting its hours and mandating the installation of a sound barrier wall - that neither side is declaring total triumph.

The board [of standards and appeals] granted a permit for music and dancing on the catering hall's first floor. But it expires next year, whereas many permits run for three, said Jeff Mulligan, the board's executive director.

The city also limited the eatery's operating hours: Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

To combat noise spreading onto the street and to nearby co-ops, the board required Royal Palace to install a floor-to-ceiling plexiglass wall and an automatic volume control on its sound board.

And to satisfy gripes about early-morning garbage pickups that locals claim jolt them from sleep, the city banned trash collections between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Goidel said he was "happy" the board imposed such rules - and "hopeful" but "not optimistic" the catering hall would follow them.

Elite pile of crap

This thing is so big I couldn't get it in one frame. Gaze upon Elite Palace.
And once again may I remind you that this is NOT a new building.
You should see this thing lit up at night. It looks like it was transported over from the Las Vegas Strip.

From the Times Newsweekly:

The eatery had originally committed to parking 102 cars on the roof, said Richard Gundlach, who, like Kang, sits on Community Board 2. Elite Palace had obtained a Board of Standards and appeals variance allowing them to offer the rooftop parking.

However, due to the structural integrity of the building, only about 50 cars can park on the roof, according to Gundlach. The catering hall currently parks the remaining vehicles around the surrounding area.

"They have to use valet parking, and this is what's happening all over the neighborhood," he said. "They say they want to work with the community but it's not happening."

This remains unresolved. But it's too late... The BSA allowed it, it's built and you can either deal with it or move. The owners don't have to comply with the building, zoning or board of standards and appeals codes.

(Third photo from catering hall's website.)