2 times • MAY 19, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Some Ridgewood residents speak out against pop-up beach BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Life is going to be a real beach for some Ridgewood residents this summer. Several Ridgewood residents at Wednesday’s Community Board 5 meeting in Middle Village spoke out against the Rockaway Brewing Company’s pop-up urban beach beer garden, La Playa NYC, which is set to open on June 4 at 176 Woodward Ave. on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border. “We are opposing the pop-up beach and a liquor license,” said one resident who wished to remain anonymous. “We don’t want the noise that’s going to come with this, the traffic, the littering, the smoking and we have a lot of working people who work days and evenings in the neighborhood, the elderly, the physically sick.” La Playa NYC is being billed as the city’s first pop-up urban beach beer garden and will ship in 140 cubic yards of Long Island sand and be fully decorated in a beach theme with beach chairs, sun umbrellas, a thatched palapa, beach volleyball courts and kiddie pools. The pop-up beer garden will run from June 4 through September. It will operate Mondays through Thursdays from 5 p.m. to midnight, and from noon to midnight on Fridays through Sundays and will feature local talent including DJs, guest chefs, beer talks and special performances. As a brewery, Rockaway Brewing Company is allowed to have five remote sites where they can conduct business, CB 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri said. However, Rockaway Brewing Company has not named 176 Woodward Ave. as one of those sites as of yet, he added. According to CB 5 District Manager Gary Giordano, Rockaway Brewing Company has secured a two-year lease with the owners of the Woodward Avenue corner property. “From what we know from the Department of City Planning, they can operate a commercial establishment at that location,” Giordano said. “They may need to get a cabaret license. We can chose to oppose their getting an alcoholic beverage license, but as far as a commercial enterprise goes, from what we’ve learned, they can do that at that location.” The Ridgewood Times has reached out to Rockaway Brewing Company and is awaiting a response. BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport They spoke out, and their voices were heard. The Ridgewood residents who rallied outside of their apartment building earlier this year claiming the new owners were abusing Section 8 regulations to force them out of their rent-regulated apartments have come to an agreement with the landlord and the NYC Department of Housing and Development (HPD). Residents at 1708 Summerfield St., also known as 1071 Cypress Ave., claimed that the new owners of the building, Silvershore Properties, were allowing their apartments to fall into disrepair, which would remove them from the Section 8 program. The program helps low-income tenants by paying a portion of the rent to the landlord. A spokesperson for Silvershore Properties said that the owners were not provided with Section 8 voucher numbers for tenants when they purchased the property from an absentee landlord in November 2015. Also, Silvershore was not added to the NYCHA Section 8 Extranet until March of 2016, meaning Silvershore was not notified of any Section 8 inspections, according to the spokesperson. “Silvershore has never commenced any action to evict any of the Section 8 tenants for non-payment and the accusations are completely false,” the spokesperson said. “Since being notified, six apartments of the eight that failed inspection have been completed and reinstated. Silvershore has been compliant with all issues since being notified and is working directly with the Section 8 tenants’ attorneys to complete any outstanding issues that were a result of the previous landlords’ neglect.” According to HPD, no apartments in the building were suspended from the Section 8 program due to violations. HPD said there was a payment issue when the property switched owners in 2015 and they wanted to be sure they were paying the correct landlord. Ridgewood tenants resolve rental beef Rendering courtesy Rockaway Brewing Company Some residents are not pleased with the idea of having La Playa NYC, a pop-up urban beach beer garden, in Ridgewood this summer. Councilman Antonio Reynoso stands with residents of 1708 Summerfield St. during their rally against Silvershore Properties. QNS/Photo by Anthony Giudice Glendale Kiwanis installs 2 members The Kiwanis Club of Glendale welcomed two new members during the organization’s weekly meeting on May 12 at Zum Stammtisch restaurant. Glendale Kiwanis President Richard Huber installed William Barbera and Giovanni Silvagni into the charitable community service group. The new members are pictured with Huber, Club Secretary Deborah Kueber and Luciano Saladino, who sponsored Silvagni’s membership.
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