By Bill Parry
A Woodside gentleman’s club was denied a cabaret license by Community Board 1 last week, meaning only two women will be able to dance at the same time.
The board turned down the request by the NYC Gentlemen’s Club, at 26-50 Brooklyn-Queens Expwy. W., because of a recent uptick in crime in the area, according to CB 1 District Manager Lucille Hartman. The club is located in an industrial area near the BQE.
“The police stated that there’s been incidents there,” Hartman said. “There’s a spill out from there and other clubs and we don’t want it to get worse.”
She added that CB 1 was concerned that the NYC Gentlemen’s Club was looking to expand into a much larger club.
“That’s our concern. Let’s just say the club doesn’t enhance the area,” Hartman said.
The club’s attorney, Kerry Katsorhis, could not be reached for comment.
Community Board 1 rejected the bid for the cabaret license in a hand vote. The Department of Consumer Affairs will decide whether it will grant a license in a few months.
Meanwhile, Jon Orcutt, the policy director at the city Department of Transportation, made a presentation at the board’s community meeting about Citi Bike expanding into Astoria.
“We’re not even asking for it,” Hartman said. “This is simply outreach. They came to explain the program, information only.”
DOT spokesman Scott Gastel said, “Very preliminary. The meeting earlier this week was the beginning of the process.”
Citi Bike has thousands of bikes at hundreds of stations — 300 in Lower Manhattan alone — but none in Queens.
Docking stations will be installed at several Long Island City locations, including MoMA PS1 and Gantry State Plaza, but it is not clear when. “We await the resources becoming available to deploy these stations,” Gastel said.
Astoria will have to wait at least 18 to 24 months for the program to arrive.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
