Last call for bars on a Corona block

Francisco Moya, 31, president of the Corona Gardens Neighborhood Association (CGNA), has lived in Corona Gardens for all of his life.
“Growing up and living in this neighborhood, I have always enjoyed coming home to a clean, peaceful and safe environment,” Moya said. Recently, several local bars have become so disruptive that residents have petitioned the State Liquor Authority (SLA) to not issue any more liquor licenses in the area.
In a one-block radius - one block from Moya’s home - there are now nine bars. Community Board 4, which serves the area, has already rejected four more applications for liquor licenses, but the SLA is reviewing appeals by the businesses and local residents fear that the bars and nightclubs will eventually be approved.
La 43 Caf/ Bar, El Llapingacho Ecuatoriano, Ivis Bar Tavern and Catacocha & Deleg Restaurant - all located on 43rd and 44th Avenues near 102nd Street - have filed the applications, which were denied by Community Board 4.
“The big one that we are very concerned about is the club Ivis,” Moya said of the two-story dance club located at 102-03 44th Avenue.
Residents are concerned about noise, litter, street fights and drunk driving. Moya said that the neighborhood is filled with inebriated people on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and debris lines the streets the following mornings. Several of the bars are located across the street from a house of worship - the Christian Church John 3:16 -on 43rd Avenue, where churchgoer Justino Rosado said there have been fights, public urination, and discarded beer bottles.
One Sunday afternoon, Moya even found a drunken person passed out on his lawn when he headed out to church.
“This area is the one corridor that we have from the residential area to the No. 7 train,” Moya said, adding that none of the bars have responded to community complaints, nor made an effort to work with the Community Board.
Moya said that he has not heard back from the SLA about the petition, but Sen. John Sabini has also sent a letter to SLA Chairman Daniel Boyle in support of the residents’ request.
“As per prior experiences with the citing of similar establishments in this neighborhood, history has demonstrated that these entities are not able to coexist in a mutually acceptable manner due to the noise levels, public disturbances and increase in traffic which are natural byproducts of such businesses,” Sabini wrote.
Sabini and Moya also pointed out that the bars could be in violation of the law prohibiting two establishments with liquor licenses to be situated within 500 feet of each other.