we are currently looking into the garden of ono at the gansevoort hotel and it’s illeagel entrance on hudson street, (by law all should enter through the restaurant on 13th street).
i am a big supporter of protesting the billboards, they are still not at the legal angle and that cost’s michael ackerman and the wagner group a lot of money to move them to the legal 90 degree angle they should be at.

Case-in-point: In May of ’05, almost exactly two years ago, the emails were flying to rally folk to attend a CB2 meeting to testify against PM Lounge so that they would be denied a sidewalk cafe application.

Now, emails are flying to rally folk to attend a CB2 meeting to testify against PM Lounge so that they will be denied a liquor license application in a new space across the street. Really, I could just re-post the old blog post, and replace SIDEWALK with LIQUOR and Monday, May 9 with Tuesday April 10. (you can get a history of some of this blog’s posts about PM Lounge by clicking “PM Lounge” in the ‘tags’ listed at the bottom of this post – nifty, huh?)

In all seriousness, however, this is a bit different. This time, PM Lounge (as part of a group called AM Operation Group, LLC – oh the witty wordsmiths) is applying for a liquor license at the space across the street, occuped by SASHA (53 Gansevoort Street) … Revoking a liquor license, well, that’s almost impossible but if you are one of the many who calls 311 repeatedly about noise levels at PM Lounge, here’s an even better place to make yourself heard. Bring your log of complaints to 311, your letters to local politicians, your letters to management, bring it all, and get a chance to testify.

The application is to be reviewed by CB 2 Business committee at a hearing Tuesday evening April 10 at 6:30 at Tony D’Apolito Recreation Center ..3 Clarkson St. THIRD FLOOR (It’s near Carmine and Seventh Ave South).

As an interesting comparison, it’s much easier to report on the Hotel G’s various (truly creative) skirmishes with the nieghborhood. First there was the contention that the site of the hotel was the original site for the water tunnel construction, which instead took over Seravalli playground; then there was the (no adjective necessary) design of the hotel; then the noise problems, first with music blaring from the roof; then the whirring sound of an airplane engine emanating from the hotel restaurant ventilation system. And now, of course, now we have their illegal, horrid billboard. I really wonder what’s next for them. Nothing horrid has appeared on the sidewalks out front. Perhaps they’ll accidentally defile the sidewalk next?

Ugh, not only are they erecting a hideously ugly billboard, but the billboard base has now taken the space where Hotel Gansevoort used to keep their trash, so now we have to walk by their massive loads of trash heaped on the sidewalk every day. Aren’t there rules about where and how you can store your trash? Rules intended to create a safe community with better quality of life?

Lots of Government officials and community organizations (like GVSHP) are organized to fight the trashy billboard that threatens to soon over-illuminate our skies, and clash with the historic feel of our neighborhood. Check back here to see what you can do.

****Update: 3/23: City (DOB) agrees that Billboards are in violation of zoning regulations.  GVSHP rocks!  Thanks Andrew Berman.  The fight isn’t over yet – the billboards have to be moved only 4degrees to be in compliance, but there are still two more potential issues that the city has yet to rule on.

The new exhaust has been connected at the Hotel Gansevoort and it appears that the disruptive noise generated by the restaurant’s fan will no longer be an issue. The saga is over! Is it true? Are you happy? Write in and let us know!

Lauren McGrath wrote in:

what’s the feeling about the noise these days from the hotel. i heard it weeks ago and was inspired to complain, but then was unsure when to schedule the inspection by dep who are now actually hounding me to come. when is the noise now? has it gone? who’s got a great spot to inspect from? i’m not hearing any more but have been away and distracted (maybe my hearing has gone south). please give comments/suggestions. thank you!

And JoAnn Peritz emailed:

Well, I think they did it. I don’t hear the noise from the hotel. The put a cover over the vent and re-directed it to the roof. You can see the piece they added to the outside of the hotel. I’m wondering if others think this solved the problem.

Some interesting tidbits from the meeting for your reading pleasure:

- A coalition including “Project for Public Spaces” and “Transportation Alternatives” are conducting a workshop on July 19 to look into the possibility of making Gansevoort plaza car-free (oh what a dream to no longer live the car-horn life). Bring your ideas on traffic and pedestrian uses of the Gansevoort Market to Housing Works (320 West 13th, 4th Floor) at 6.30pm on July 19.

- Cobblestones are sacrosanct. Council Members Alan Gerson and Christine Quinn have introduced legislation to help ensure that cobblestone streets are preserved, and to provide appropriate penalties to discourage their destruction. (click here to write letters to support this FANTASTIC legislation)

- Did you know that Nightlife generates 9 billion buckaroos and Movie/Film only 5 billion? So an attendee said…

- According to the police “Thursday is the new Wednesday” and that is why Civil Village now includes Thursday nights in its operations to crack-down on quality-of-life crime by using radar traps, sound traps, drunken-driving checkpoints, stolen-vehicle checkpoints, motorcycle checkpoints and license, registration and insurance-card checkpoints.

- Councilmember Alan Gerson is working on a NOISE CODE revision – legislation will move forward this fall and will change the rules from being based on a decibel level to an audible level. I think this means that the noise of peeps hanging out on the street and smoking and chatting in front of a bar can be measured and considered problematic as well as traditional noise, like music. Cool.

- The Hotel Gansevoort may have finally solved their noise problem. And (drumroll, please), they’ve joined the Nightlife Association which bodes well for their relationship with the community – we almost never are given reason to complain about their member establishments.

So many important items were discussed that I’m writing two other, entirely separate posts to comprehensively cover important topics discussed:

- Tips for Presenting the Community Point of View at a 500 Ft. Meeting (Click to read more)

- MOP – How the Method of Operation can help community boards lay good cohabitation ground-rules for incoming bars and restaurants (click to read more).

However, I decided not to thoroughly cover some of the other issues that came up at the meeting like the rumor of a Serbian drug-ring operator who owns a bar on 42nd street (dude, can’t we get Interpol in on that?…

Now, don’t you wish you had been there, too? Comments, complaints, witty responses?

Other details:
June 17, 20 and 21- Installation of the vertical stack.

June 22- Connection of the transition piece to the vertical stack. The exhaust fans will need to be shut down from approximately 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on this day.

It is now over 6 months since they first received a noise summons from D.E.P. 5 months since they said they were “aware of the problem and we’re trying to manage it”. Over 2 months since they held a community meeting on April 6 and Jeffrey Chodorow looked us in the eyes and promised to resolve the situation “within 30 days” (May 6). Today, 6 weeks after that May 6 deadline, they claim to have selected a bid, work to begin next week, results ‘in 30 days‘. Hmmm… have I heard that before???

Is this all some weird delaying tactic?

January 11, 2005
DEP issues a noise summons to ONO (the Hotel Gansevoort Restaurant) regarding the noisy generator.

February 3, 2005
At State Senator Tom Duane’s Town Hall meeting, residents complain about the noise from the air conditioning and venting systems.

February 4, 2005
Hotel issues the following statement to The Villager:

“We’re aware of the problem and we’re trying to manage it,” Lindenbaum said. “We want our neighbors to be comfortable with us. Everyone in senior management is aware of the problem and we’re doing everything we can to fix it,” he said, adding that the contractor who installed the system has been informed of the problem.

February, 2005
Environmental Control Board judgment against the restaurant

Feb/March, 2005 (does anyone know the exact date of these meetings?)
Community Board 2 votes unanimously against recommending to SLA the hotel’s application to SLA for a liquor license alteration. Testimony reccommending not to grant the alteration given by Christine Quinn and Deborah Glick, citing broken promises (hmmm…sounds familiar)

“they promised Community Board 2 that they would restrict the hours that the bar was open and not play music, and as both of those promises were broken and noise was already a problem for neighbors, I presented testimony urging the S.L.A. to deny the application to expand their license.” – Deborah Glick

SLA rejects Hotel Gansevoort’s application.

April 6, 2005
Hotel G. (after being turned down for liquor license alteration) arranges community meeting for residents suffering from the noisy hotel ventilation system at Hotel Gansevoort. Jeffrey Chodorow personally promises to fix the noisy hotel ventilation system in no more than 30 days (May 6). Problem is said to be caused by contractor who installed the wrong fan.

April, 2005
D.E.P. issues a second violation to the restaurant

April 29, 2005 (1 week to May 6 day deadline) – update from Hotel:

On Tuesday, May 3rd – based on the advice of our engineering team — we will be implementing the first of two plans. The first will be reducing the amount of intake power for the fan and replacing the blades (the earliest date possible based on the manufacturing schedule of the new blades). If by Wednesday this does not produce an acceptable level of noise reduction, we have already spent the money, ordered the parts and hired the labor for the second option. We will update you after the initial work on Tuesday and will notify the community should a second round of work be needed.

May 4, 2005 (2 days to May 6 day deadline) – update from Hotel:

The intake of air is being reduced and the fan blades are being replaced. We are cautiously optimistic that the level of noise will be reduced significantly from the combination of these strategies. I have also been informed that the protective bird screen has been removed as well.

May 6, 2005 (d-day)
Noise continues unabated; Horatio Street Association writes letter condemning Hotel’s broken promise.

May 9, 2005 (3 days after May 6 deadline) – update from Hotel:

Work continues this week on reducing the noise from the ventilation system from our restaurant. We need to reduce the amount of air the fan uses — to do this we had to order a new, custom-made fan belt pulley which is scheduled to arrive by the middle of next week. We have spoken with many of our neighbors this week and would like to thank everyone for acknowledging our progress and our continued commitment to addressing this issue. Some of our neighbors on Hudson have noticed a significant improvement, which we greatly appreciate, but we are aware that there is still work to be done. We are cautiously optimistic that we are getting close. We expect the custom belt pulley to be installed within 10 to 14 days.

[NOTE: Repeated queries over the past month questioning whether or not the custom-belt pulley was ever installed have not been answered]

May 11, 2005
D.E.P. takes Restaurant to court; judgement against restuarant

May 25, 2005 (3 weeks after May 6 deadline) – update from Hotel:

We are excited to report that the owners have decided to extend the duct, which will re-direct the sound and the exhaust towards the sky. To help you visualize what this entails, I have included some architectural drawings of the planned duct extension and redirect. We expect that once a bid is accepted, the installation will be completed in no longer than 30-60 days. We will notify you when a bid is accepted to keep you abreast of our timeline.

June 14, 2005 (6 weeks past May 6 day deadline) – update from Hotel:

A bid has been selected and work begins next week. You will see and hear significant improvements within 30 days from next week.