By Nathan Duke
City Council hopefuls Elizabeth Crowley and Anthony Como joined Maspeth residents last weekend to say they were tired of a Grand Avenue nightclub that has been keeping them up nights with blaring music.
Residents held up signs reading “Hush, Be Quiet” and “We Need Our Sleep” as they marched single file along the street in front of Hush at 70-10 Grand Ave. in Maspeth. They said the club had been preventing them from sleeping for nearly a year since it opened.
“[Patrons]go in and out to smoke, so the music is blaring,” said resident Mary Harte, who lives directly behind the club's outdoor patio. “Every time the police come, they turn it down and then turn it back up.”
Protesters were joined by Democrat Elizabeth Crowley and Republican Anthony Como, both campaigning for the upcoming special District 30 election to replace former City Councilman Dennis Gallagher. Gallagher stepped down in March as part of a plea deal following his arrest last year for sexually abusing a 52-year-old Middle Village woman.
Crowley said she believed Hush had been able to get away with loud noise levels because of a decline in the 104th Precinct's work force. She called on the precinct to conduct a noise level test at the club.
“We've been cut 30 cops out of 170 at the 104th, so quality-of-life issues get ignored,” she said. “Hush doesn't respect homeowners. It's not a good neighbor.”
A man who appeared to work at the nightclub, but would not identify himself, refused to comment.
Como said noise emanating from Hush is a combination of loud music and people speaking loudly outside the club.
“This type of place can cause a mass exodus from a wonderful neighborhood,” he said. “They are refusing to cooperate.”
Como also recently criticized the opening of a new bar called Clutch on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. An advertisement on Craigslist put out a call for “lady bartenders willing to work in boys' shorts, chaps, bikini tops, etc sexy look a must.”
Como said that bar would be located one block away from a school, IS 87, and St. Margaret's Roman Catholic Church.
“We won't stand for the deterioration of our neighborhoods,” he said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
