Will the Ridgewood Masonic Temple’s lights be extinguished by a ban on temporary liquor licenses? Photo by Diego Cupolo for BushwickBK
A local events venue is in trouble with the police after a series of liquor licensing issues, with possibly dire financial consequences for the organization that owns it.
The 83rd Precinct elected to block alcohol sales at the Ridgewood Masonic Temple, at 1054 Bushwick Avenue, which caused a last-minute site change for a scheduled New Year’s Eve show thrown by local indie-rock promoter Todd Patrick. Patrick is known to Brooklyn showgoers as Todd P.
The Temple is zoned as a fraternal organization or church, and temporary liquor permits are issued to promoters for individual events. To obtain a permit, a promoter has to go to the Community Affairs Office at the NYPD precinct to submit ID for a background check.
According to Ridgewood Masonic Temple manager Frank Williams, an organizer for a non-music event in November did not get his permit in time, but threw his event anyhow. The police randomly dropped in on the event and discovered the infraction. Because of this and other previous incidents at RMT, the precinct decided to block the issuance of any more temporary liquor permits for events held there. Patrons are not even allowed to bring their own alcohol. Though the NY State Liquor Authority issues the permits, the local police precinct has jurisdiction to deny one. As a result, Patrick moved the event to 285 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, where he could legally sell alcohol.
"[Community Affairs] Officer [Damarys] Franco was very understanding," Patrick told BushwickBK, "her feeling is just that they’ve given [RMT] a lot of chances, and she’s going to stop cutting them any slack."
The Temple hosts many events, from car shows to graduation parties, the occasional meeting of Masons, as well as offering a legal space for indie-rock shows. It also served as a location in a movie shoot in 2009.
"There’s really very few outlets for adults to have entertainment in this community," said Patrick.
Patrick’s decision to move the event was social as well as economic. "New Year’s Eve is not any fun dry," he said. "If we don’t sell alcohol, we can’t pay for the place. Unless you’re not paying the talent, you’re either [charging] $25 a head or you’re selling alcohol." $15 tickets for the show sold out shortly after the location was moved.
Williams said the Temple has contacted lawyers and plans to secure a liquor license for the venue rather than leaving it to event organizers to obtain their own permits. They also plan to renovate the space. In the meanwhile, upcoming events will have to be dry.
"We had to call and tell the event organizers," Williams said. "We had to give deposits back and move to different dates."
Patrick is well-versed in zoning laws and alcohol restrictions, especially after last year’s police shut-down of illegal venue Market Hotel, which he co-founded and is now trying to reopen as a legal space. He noted that Ridgewood Masonic Temple would need to have a cabaret license in order to then obtain a liquor license, and in this case the cabaret license is itself dependent on the venue renovations. A cabaret license is required for businesses in which patrons are allowed to dance and food or drink is also served.
But, Patrick points out, since the building is not zoned commercially it will not be easy to finance renovations due to RMT’s dubious legal status.
“They’re facing a sad series of catch-22s and unfortunately all signs point to the place disappearing from the Bushwick cultural map,” the promoter said.
All of these problems could be solved for the Masons if they succeed in selling the building, currently listed for one million dollars.
Todd Patrick January 3rd, 2011 at 9:59 am
Thanks for covering this situation – if the Ridegwood Masonic Temple goes, it’s'll be sad loss for the community, far beyond the small impact on indie rock concerts. The space is really a multi-generational, multi-cultural facility used by many parts of the Bushwick community for to host events and ceremonies.
One key detail that should also be mentioned is that, it’s not just alcohol SALES that are impacted at the Ridgewood Temple – the police precinct and the SLA are also blocking byob. It’s not legal to have alcohol anywhere inside the building, and that is why this destroys their ability to keep operating as a rental hall.
We would have loved to do the event byob, but the police would not allow it, as NY state law requires a permit for “bottle clubs” aka byob events, and the licensing rules are essentially the same as a proper license.
Also, the issue with their getting a license is that the State Liquor Authority has made obtaining a “cabaret license” a condition of any liquor license being issued to the building.
It’s important to note that this is not always a requirement, but the SLA is invoking the requirement for a “cabaret” here at their discretion.
This is a death sentence for the space because a cabaret license would require adherence to current building code for public assembly spaces (they are grandfathered in under old code), and thus possibly millions in renovations. They would have to add fire sprinklering throughout the building, a modern fire alarm system, many more bathrooms, an elevator, and endelss more architectural upgrades. Since they are not zoned as a commercial space, they could not find an investor who would be willing to back them to finance these changes, since the space can’t be a “proper” club legally. It can only be fraternal organisation or a religious space.
The Ridgewood Masonic Temple is facing a sad series of catch-22′s and unfortunately all signs point to the place disappearing from the Bushwick cultural map.
This is a real tragedy for Bushwick, and not because we lose an occasional venue for indie rock concerts. The space is more commonly home for events that serve the old-school demographics of the neighborhood – hip hop concerts, car and motorcycle club parties, big dj dancehall reggae parties, family reunions, weddings, quinceañeras, and the like. Where will they go now? The neighborhood has no other similar facility.
Dresden January 3rd, 2011 at 10:50 am
Like the Masons won’t get their way in the end – they’re the MASONS!
Nino January 3rd, 2011 at 10:26 pm
I pretty sure you need to have a million dollar insurence policy to get a cabaret license. More with liqure and band equipment.
You might be better of become a catering company and call it music and wine sampling” show.
Rock music always bringing the bums with dope and police on the tail
I used to play accordian & Double Bass guitar was making all kind partys with the big button tuck tube amplifiers. Dancing music ala Frankie Valli, Beatles, Italian, Polish.
Personally I think Masons are assholes, I never make buissness with them
-Nino Dee
reyes January 4th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
this place is gonna be snatched by developers for residential purposes most likely. i mean its a bad thing that bushwick is losing one space for indie concerts, but north brooklyn is big and there are plenty of spaces that will eventually pop up for events. what is BAD is that is not going to be used for community purposes anymore thats what is fucked up, people that grew up in that area and had access to it for other reasons are the ones that are going to be losing….. first stage gentrification, cause and effect.
Jose January 5th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I dont live in the wick but I do have several friends that live around the block from the temple. The space has some amazing potential. And the $1000000 sale price is a steal in my eyes. Lets pray it doent go to a developer and they tear it down. It would be a real shame
Chris Glazier January 5th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
do the masons use this building at all anymore? they own several properties around town but few seem to be functional. anyway they’re looking to unload this one, hope somebody can spare it the wrecking ball.
Todd Patrick January 14th, 2011 at 7:27 am
This Ridgewood Masonic Temple property is not zoned to be anything but a religious or fraternal center… or residential. The reason it is only 1 million to purchase is that it can’t be used for commercial purposes under the current zoning, and hence is not attractive to investment to make it a real nightclub… ie. that’s never going to happen. Either way, the Ridgewood Masonic Temple will need to sort out its liquor license woes or it will be shuttered.
The liquor license troubles are a result of a decision the the local 83rd police precinct and the State Liquor Authority made to blacklist the place for “special event” 24-hour alcohol permits. Rock shows had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. The decision was was made by the 83rd Precinct Community Affairs office and by Deputy Inspector Capasso, following an unlicensed champagne dance party promoted by longterm neighborhood residents.
The precinct and the SLA feel that the building owners should file for a full yearly onsite liquor license, and do not want anymore 24-hour special event permits issued for the address.
The snag is that the SLA is demanding that the building obtain a “cabaret license” in order to get an onsite liquor license. This is unusual. Neither the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, nor the Polish National Home aka “Warsaw,” nor the Knitting Factory or the Bowery Ballroom have cabaret licenses, yet all have onsite liquor licenses. A cabaret license would require substantial architectural upgrades to the building, at a cost far out of the budget of the building management. As previously noted, it is impossible for the owners to attract investment for these sort of renovations, because the building is not zoned to be anything but a not-for-profit institution or residential.
Even if the necessary investment could somehow be raised, the management would then have a huge expense to recoup (think: in the millions of dollars), and that would mean that the place would no longer be able to be cheaply rented by neighborhood promoters and organizers. It currently costs $1200 a night to rent the hall, plus the $35 cost of filing for a 24-hour special event alcohol permit. At the current rates it would take years of renting the place 365 days a year for the management to even begin to recoup the money that “cabaret license” renovations would cost.
The situation is that, either the police compromise on their decision to block 24-hour special event alcohol permits for the building, or the Ridgewood Masonic Temple will disappear from the cultural map. There’s no similar facility in the neighborhood, so this would be a significant loss for the community, far beyond any loss of indie rock concerts. Hopefully the police will consider a conditional solution after letting the building management suffer their mistakes for a few months.