Feb. 18, 2016 By Michael Florio
Lefkos Pyrgos is in gear to open an outdoor seating café at the Ditmars Boulevard location it recently relocated to.
The Greek bakery and coffee shop, located at 33-02 Ditmars Blvd., was approved by Community Board 1 on Tuesday for an unenclosed sidewalk café with 16 tables and 32 chairs. Lefkos Pyrgos opened at this location in December after having to move from its long-held spot at 31st Street and 23rd Avenue.
According to the outdoor café application presented to CB 1, Lefkos Pyrgos would put four tables and eight chairs along the Ditmars Boulevard side of their bakery and 12 tables and 24 seats on the 33rd Street side. The bakery can seat approximately 50 people inside.
The set up would leave adequate space both for servers and pedestrians to be able to walk by, a representative of the bakery told the Board.
However, the bakery’s café application met some resistance from neighbors.
Two residents who live near the bakery asked CB 1 to vote against the application, charging that noise and trash from the café would be unbearable for neighbors.
“It has been very noisy ever since the bakery opened,” Laura Spaeth, a 33rd Street resident, told the Board. “People eating and drinking outside will only add to the noise and garbage issues.”
Spaeth also told the Astoria Post that the bright lights from the bakery sign shines through her window all night long.
In response, the bakery’s representative agreed to sign a stipulation to their application stating that they would try to abate noise, make sure that the exterior premises is kept clean and making sure people are not congregating and smoking in front of the business.
The representative also stated that the bakery had an outdoor seating café during their tenure at the corner of 31st Street and 23rd Ave.
“They never had a noise or garbage complaint there,” she said. “We expect that to continue at our new location.”
Ultimately, CB 1 voted overwhelmingly in approval of the application, with 33 for and two against.
The Community Board will now send a letter of recommendation for this application to the Department of Consumer Affairs.
