No more loud parties at Metronome

“Are you looking for the Metronome teen night?” asked a skinny young man who stood in front of the Metronome, a restaurant and catering hall for private parties and gatherings located at 79-28 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village.
That Friday night, October 3, a teen party was supposed to take place at the Metronome, but it didn’t. “[The owner] cancelled on us,” said the young man, who refused to give his name, identifying himself only as a Middle Village resident and promoter of the event. So, he directed the teens a couple of blocks down to the event’s new venue.
Other parties that were scheduled to take place at the Metronome in recent weeks have been cancelled too, largely because of the outcries from local residents after several hundred people gathered at the establishment for a rowdy private party one weekend night during the middle of September.
“People spilled out onto the streets. They closed the doors at 3.30 a.m.,” said James McClelland, chief of staff for City Councilmember Anthony Como, whose district office received complaints from residents after the event.
The party guests took up parking spots belonging to the residents and left behind cigarette boxes, beer bottles and other garbage on the street, according to the accounts of community members.
“We don’t want that kind of activity in a quiet residential neighborhood - any loud music or rowdy behavior or violence,” said Robert Holden, president of the local Juniper Park Civic Association.
About a week after this party, a similar one was scheduled to take place. Advertised as a “birthday bash,” the event was entitled “Modelz & Bottlez.” Its promo poster featured a long-haired woman in a swimsuit, a bottle of champagne in her hand.
“Ladies … don’t buy a ticket if you plan on wearing jeans and sneakers,” read an ad about the party posted on a website called www.WhatsPoppin.net. “I want to see lingerie models, swimsuit models …” Men were asked to bring alcohol. “Dudes, let ya bottle represent you!” the ad urged.
This “birthday bash” advertisement did not go down well with Middle Village locals - particularly after the loud party they had witnessed just recently. Plans for the event spread quickly throughout the community and the police prevented the gathering from taking place.
“As long as it doesn’t affect residents, we are fine. We encourage development on Metropolitan Avenue,” said McClelland about the Metronome, adding that the community will keep a close eye on it. “We just wanted to nip it in the bud.”
And, they succeeded. Now, the Metronome hosts only daytime gatherings such as children’s birthday parties, according to owner Rick Chen.
During the six months that the Metronome has been open, events - even night ones - have been low-key and quiet, but this one party ruined everything, Chen explained. He explained that he wasn’t expecting that many people to attend that party.
“After that we decided, that’s it. We don’t have such loud things any more,” Chen said, explaining that he wants to stay in business. “I apologize to the community.”
However, not hosting the night parties has hurt his finances, Chen said. “The economy is terrible right now. We may very well need to close down,” he explained. “We’re going to try to get a loan; otherwise, we can’t survive.”