The police have been cracking down on alcohol — for sale or free — at large gatherings. The ARCH Collective, above, was recently shut down for serving beer. — Photo by Brian Raby.

A fledgling art space’s grand opening saw an array of art patrons, Bushwick scenesters, and one unexpected guest — the police.

The ARCH Collective, which operates a production studio and a gallery in the renovated garage behind Northeast Kingdom restaurant, received three criminal summonses from police officers for "operating an illegal bottle club" during its opening night party on April 23.

The artists in the opening exhibition and their friends were celebrating the collective’s opening, serving wine and beer with a request for donations.

At about 9 pm, a police car from the 83rd Precinct was driving down Wyckoff Avenue when it slowed down at the corner of Troutman Avenue and circled around the block before pulling up in front of the building.

The police approached gallery director Jason Jensen and asked him what was going on and who was in charge. When Jensen stepped forward, the police asked for his driver’s license and questioned whether he had permits for serving alcohol inside.

After some confusion over the building’s lease, the officers issued three summonses: permitting consumption of alcohol, unlicensed bottle club, and failure to display proper alcohol license, and closed the party.

Word about the police action spread throughout the arts community, startling several Bushwick gallery directors. Jason Andrew chose not to serve alcohol at Storefront during Bushwick Open Studios and Arts in Bushwick’s Laura Braslow encouraged artists planning parties during the weekend festivities to monitor their crowds and limit open containers.

It has been a familiar scene for art spaces in East Williamsburg and Bushwick. When Ad Hoc Art held several joint gallery openings with Eastern District on Bogart Street last year, often serving beer to throngs of street art fans, officers from Williamsburg 90th Precinct would park nearby and wait until guests left the galleries with beer can in hand. Officers issued dozens of open container citations, which resulted in fines and court summonses for the unlucky revelers and complaints of harassment.

Both Andrew and Braslow have met with the 83rd Precinct Community Affairs officers to inform them of events occurring in galleries or as part of larger artistic festivals. Andrew advises every arts organization planning an event in Bushwick to apply for the necessary permits and drop off a flyer with the precinct’s community liaison so that officers know about the event.

"There was a time when we could get away with throwing a party without permits but then, as it is now, it was not respectful of the greater community, i.e. the families and business owners that are our neighbors," said Andrew.

That’s what Jensen and his business partner, Alexander Kellum, have started to do. This week, both met with a community affairs officer to discuss how to proceed with future events at the space. The ARCH Collective has hosted two other exhibitions since its opening and neither had any visits from the police.

Jensen believes that his meeting with the police helped him explain what his company is trying to achieve and dispel some of the preconceived notions the department may have about them.

"Their main concern is that the precinct has made significant efforts in past 10 years to improve the community of Bushwick," said Jensen. "They refuse to take any steps backward regarding alcohol consumption for minors and drinking in public. They don’t want to go back to the way that it was before."

Jensen still has to go to court later this month to clear his summonses.  He has been speaking with a lawyer and he believes that all three citations will eventually be dropped.

But their welcome hit another bump a week ago, when their neighbors called 311 with an "illegal driveway" complaint after Kellum painted over the curb to allow them to park their car in front of the production studio during the week.

Jensen thinks that he can win over his neighbors by reaching out to them through incremental steps. He is already talking with the residents of Bushburg, a loft building across the street, about putting a community garden in the parking lot behind them and painting a community mural on the block in August.

"There are a lot of people who live in this community for a very long time," said Jensen. "We’re seen as outsiders, but we’re trying to understand the community and hopefully we can come to some middle ground. Whatever it is we need to do to we’re willing to do."

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