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.