Developer Ross Morgan is angling to turn his former Nolita carriage house into a high-end restaurant and ritzy apartments. According to DNAinfo, Morgan received approval for a liquor license at 177 Mott Street last week from Community Board 2’s State Liquor Authority committee, despite the objections of some community members, who worried about the potential for noise at a new neighborhood hot spot. The restaurant, which Ross has named the Brewster, in homage to the Brewster & Co. carriage factory that called the building home during the 1800s, would serve up to 150 people on the first floor and basement levels.
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Another strip club may be coming to Long Island City, whether local community board members like it or not. GLC Entertainment, the company that owns Sin City in the Bronx, is seeking a liquor license for its property near the Queensboro Bridge, despite previous reports that its plan to open a club in the spot had been abandoned. Community Board 2 members had believed their initial opposition to owner Gus Drakopoulos’ attempt to obtain a liquor license had curtailed his plans to turn his two-story brick building, which used to house Smiley’s Flowers, into another Sin City-like venture. Now both Drakopoulos and the Liquor Authority are saying Drakopoulos never withdrew the application. Construction plans for the venue show 12 karaoke rooms and a main lounge with two cash bars on the lower floor, a service bar on the upper floor, and a maximum occupancy of 299 people.This isn’t the first time Long Island City community leaders have butted heads with strip club owners in the area. As The Real Deal first reported Scandals, at 24-03 Queens Plaza North, is suing the city and the
Department of Buildings for trying to remove its authorization to
operate as an adult club in that location.