A planned kid-friendly bar, restaurant, and venue in Gowanus that locals say is going to flood the neighborhood with noise and boozed-up music fans will be the subject of a public hearing on Tuesday morning.
Activists with the not-on-my-street-corner group We Are Gowanus sued the city this summer to force a formal decision on the proposed Rock and Roll Playhouse, a kid-friendly bar and restaurant by day that would host performances in the evening, which they said would violate zoning. The city approved the venue and now the feisty neighbors are appealing and urging sympathizers to pack the meeting and help sink the project.
“Hired experts, along with members of this committee, have compiled a thorough dossier of information that supports our case,” We Are Gowanus wrote in an e-mail announcement.
The kids bar is the brainchild of Brooklyn Bowl owner Peter Shapiro, who has insisted that the establishment will be an eatery and learning center with music classes for youngsters during the day and a low-key jazz lounge and theater after 8pm — not an out-of-control concert hall.
Public hearing on the Rock and Roll Playhouse [Board of Standards and Appeals, Spector Hall, 22 Reade St. at Elk Street in Manhattan, (212) 386-0079, www.nyc.gov/html/bsa]. Jan. 14 at 10 am.
