COMMUNITY BOARD BACKS PERMIT FOR NEW BASEMENT BAR AT JACOB’S PICKLES

By Sasha Pezenik

After some passionate local pushback, Jacob’s Pickles’ application for a basement bar extension was approved by the Community Board – though it seems the dissension will not dissolve so easily. Jacob’s is on Amsterdam Avenue between 84th and 85th street.

One woman who lives directly above the restaurant attended the meeting and vehemently reemphasized what she feels is a lack of respect. “I am robbed of normal apartment activities, because of Jacob’s,” she said.

Her main concern was what she described as an untenable music volume, saying she could quite literally “hear the lyrics in the songs” and that “Jacob has never reached out.” Mr. Sedelnick however, who has lived two floors above Jacob’s now for several years, says the managers have been very accommodating. Amidst time-stamped sound recordings, lawyer testimony, text message records, and contested decibel readings, the application was approved, provided stipulations on capacity spillover and volume regulation are met, and in a year’s time Jacob’s returns for a review. We’ll check back in as the saga unfolds.

Other liquor and cafe applications also won approval. The decision to renew Bistro Cassis’s application for an (unenclosed) sidewalk café was upheld, as were applications for Seven Turkish Grill, Columbus Gourmet, and Mezzogiorno’s enclosed café. The previous motion to disapprove of Manchester Diner’s wraparound sidewalk café was not upheld, and the application was approved.