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CB2 approves corporate change for Slice West Village; alteration on hold after resident complaints about vent noise and sidewalk congestion
Summary
Community Board 2SLA committee permitted a corporate ownership change at Slice West Village (535 Hudson) but laid over an alteration application after residents described unresolved hood/vent noise and repeated sidewalk-blocking occurrences.
The Community Board 2 State Liquor Authority committee on April 1 approved a corporate ownership change at Slice West Village, 535 Hudson Street, while leaving a separate alteration request for the adjacent storefrontand outdoor seatingpending after extended resident testimony about recurring noise and sidewalk obstruction.
Attorney Michael Kelly, representing the applicants, described the corporate change as internal: Waleed Hamhami, a longtime manager, would buy out a co-owner and become the principal. Kelly said the change would not alter the restaurantits layout or core operations.
But residents and members of the committee raised longstanding complaints about the operationin particular an exhaust vent on the roof the neighbor says frequently runs past stipulated cutoff times and a history of sidewalk crowding. Thomas Cole, a nearby resident, presented a hand-logged chronology of calls asking staff to turn off a roof vent late at night. "I called to turn off the vent at 11:07. Someone answered. They turned off the vent, then the back, then the vent was turned back on within five seconds," Cole said, describing incidents he recorded earlier in the year.
Committee members pressed Waleed Hamhami and the applicants for remedies. The applicant's counsel said steps had already been taken to address the issues, including construction of a new enclosure around the roof equipment and plans to replace or relocate noisy units. The applicants also agreed to meet with neighbors and to return on the alteration request after community follow-up.
The committee voted to proceed with the corporate change and directed the applicant to hold the alteration until the applicant meets with residents and provides clearer plans to address vent soundproofing and sidewalk management. The committee recorded no formal vote tally in the transcript for the corporate change, but minutes show the board accepted the ownership change while tabling the alteration.
Ending: The committee permitted the corporate ownership transfer to proceed but made clear the alteration and any expansion of outdoor seating will not advance until residents and applicants reach a workable plan addressing ventilation noise and sidewalk congestion.
