Tape Loops Are Not A Crime!

Now that’s inventive:

In his long fought battle against the bar next door, Vernon Boulevard resident William Garrett got creative this summer. Fed up with the constant noise wafting into his backyard from Lounge 47 next door, and growing frustrated with the proper channels, he got out his digital recorder and decided to “make a little noise back at them.”

He taped snippets of an evening’s laughter and talking heard in his backyard, and then played it back over the fence.

“Instantaneously, the people in the bar were quiet—they were embarrassed,” he said.

The silence was short lived. Police responded within 48 hours, telling Garrett he could be arrested for “criminal eavesdropping.” It didn’t prove to be a very effective tactic, either.

But it does illustrate the level of frustration residents can reach when trying to fight seemingly hopeless battles against development too close to home.

Tim Doocey lives upstairs from the Garretts and is worried they are losing their battle against “reckless development” in the neighborhood.

“One of the great things about this neighborhood is that at night, it was like — crickets.” The latest battle is against a proposed restaurant/bar located immediately adjacent to the north of Garrett’s property on Vernon Boulevard.

Cops. They just don’t have a sense of humor, do they?

But that’s not all for this up(chuck)-and-coming neighbhorhood:

In addition to the noise, drunken revelers vomiting in the streets and the smoke from the outdoor patios, residents also complain that other types of establishments are needed. Doocey reports having to walk six blocks to the closest laundromat and others complained that a reliable grocery store remains absent as bars and restaurants keep moving in.

(How you can live in a neighborhood without a laundromat is beyond me . . .)

A State Liquor Authority hearing scheduled for Aug. 8, on whether to grant an on premise liquor license to the new restaurant — a Latin fusion place called Blend — was canceled at the last minute, but rescheduled for Sept. 19.

“We feel that granting this liquor license is a tipping point for the future of Vernon Boulevard being full of bars and that’s what worries us most,” said Garrett, who was also frustrated with the last minute cancelation of the hearing after they had rallied community support.

Joe Conley, chairman of Community Board 2, indicated that rescheduling the meeting was in the neighborhood’s best interest, allowing them time to galvanize support and get everyone the facts. “Our concern was we wanted to make sure the community would be heard,” Conley said.

He is sympathetic to the residents of Vernon Boulevard and the larger issue for the growing neighborhood.

“We are concerned about the density of bar restaurants in the area . . . I have been long on record to say we do not want Vernon Boulevard to turn into another Bell Boulevard,” referring to the Bayside strip of bars and restaurants that has seen its share of residential complaints.

Bell Boulevard? Try the East Village! That might stir up some response . . .