West Village residents are raising rackets over the luxurious rooftop bar and Padel Courts that developers, including Kith Streetwear founder Ronnie Fieg, are hoping to bring to their quiet neighborhoods.
The $1.6 million proposal calls for a private member club on the top floor and roof of a nine-storey commercial building at 120 Leroy St. It has East Village Main Stay Café Mogador, a spa, bar and three rooftop Padel Court restaurants.
The owner will host Padel, the name of the Mexican paddleball. It will host a private party of up to 20 people using DJs, according to a submission to the state's liquor department that bothers neighbors worried about “gunshots” and a bright, dizzying light.
Padel is the intersection of tennis and squash and has abdicated the pickleball as the latest racket sport trend to take over the city. He plays with tennis balls and solid paddles on an enclosed court with a squash-like glass wall. Unlike pickle balls played with perforated plastic balls, hard tennis balls used in padels travel at a faster pace than hitting the ground and walls.
“It's unprecedented to have this kind of thing in the middle of a residential area,” said neighbor Scott Bird, who is one of the chorus of locals blowing up the project.
“It was quiet and charming so we all moved to this neighborhood. There's no rooftop bar within a mile of this. This is just wild.”
“They're holding back on it is the nightclub,” infuriated neighbor Charles Dunn.
“It just doesn't belong in the middle of this residential area,” added Liz Be Food, who lives across the street.
Join Fieg – that brand he was named Knicks' first creative director – venture is Midtown Equities, a private real estate investment company in the Cayre family that acquired Soho House in the Meatpacking district in 2012 and is behind Casa Cipriani's private member club in Lower Manhattan.
The project requires a liquor license, but a lease has already been signed and started on the building rented by the luxury real estate company Centaur Properties.
The plan was first made before Community Board 2 in May and rejected it 33-1, but their vote is merely a recommendation.
Local Pol backed up the board and urged SLA not to grant liquor licenses.
“The rooftop bars and lounges proposed by this application will significantly increase the noise levels experienced by these residents daily, and will increase them later in the evening,” said Sen. Brian Cabana and Congress member Deborah Glick.
It is unclear what the total cost will be. According to a DOB submission, preliminary construction and plumbing work alone will come with a price tag of $1.6 million.
The SLA will weigh the issues at the next full-board meeting at the Harlem NYC office on March 13th.
Fieg, Midtown Equities and Centaur have not returned requests for comment.
