Albany holds public hearing on Ritma Room cabaret license application

City Clerk Shaniqua Jackson opened a public hearing in Albany on the issuance of a new cabaret license for Joanna Tiana LLC, doing business as the Ritma Room, at 210 Sheridan Avenue. The applicant, Raffy Garcia, identified himself as the principal of the company and answered a series of clerical questions about the establishment’s operations during the hearing.

The hearing focused on facts the city will use to review the application: the Ritma Room is currently open for business; the applicant listed a maximum occupancy of 49 and stated the venue’s square footage as 6,000. Raffy Garcia said, “We are a dance studio, performance and event space,” and described typical uses as dance classes, performances and rentals for private events such as birthday parties, corporate events and community gatherings.

Garcia confirmed proposed hours of operation and entertainment as Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. He told the clerk the business does not use licensed security for routine classes, but relies on trained staff and community volunteers, and that typical staffing is about six to seven people. On sound mitigation, Garcia said the site “has some soundproofing” and that in nearly two years of operation there have been no noise violations or complaints.

The applicant told the clerk the business has applied to the New York State Liquor Authority for a permanent liquor license and that fingerprinting was pending. City Clerk Jackson asked Garcia to provide a copy of the NYSLA license once it is issued so it can be added to the city file.

Jackson said the city’s review process will circulate the complete application, along with a premise history report for the location, to Albany Police Department, the law department (corporation counsel), the planning department, the Division of Building and Regulatory Compliance, the Albany Fire Department and the applicant’s common council member, Joyce Love. “They will then render their decision to my office. And from that decision, I will render my final determination of the application,” Jackson said. She told the applicant to keep the public hearing notice posted on the premises until a final determination is made.

No public opposition or additional speakers were recorded on the hearing transcript. Garcia asked about the timeline for review; Clerk Jackson said she could not provide a firm timeline but expected to distribute materials to departments within the next few days and then wait for their responses. The time-stamped record shows the clerk closed the hearing by saying, “The time is now 04:42, and I deem this public hearing to be closed.”

Because the matter is under administrative review, no license decision was announced at the hearing. The application remains pending departmental review and the issuance of any required NYSLA documentation.