Neighbors still fighting noise at Empire Hotel rooftop bar

A legal fight over noise on the rooftop of the Empire Hotel at 44 West 63rd Street, between Broadway and Ninth Avenue, is heating up once again, almost a year after judges sided with neighbors who filed to stop the racket in 2010, according to DNAinfo.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call at 1am Sunday night, ordering about 120 people off the roof where 400 people were supposedly partying. “It felt like a small victory for the little guy,” neighbor Monte Friedman told the 20th precinct’s community council at a meeting on Monday.

Despite court-ordered negotiations between the two parties over an agreement to limit the noise, Friedman begged police Monday to coordinate with FDNY, the Department of Buildings and other city agencies to crack down.

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The residents’ attorney Steven Sladkus said: “We’ve been having active talks with the bar, but the hotel is taking the position that they’re not interested in limiting the use of the space.”

Real estate mogul Joseph Chetrit bought over the Empire and reopened it in 2007 after a gut renovation. [DNAinfo]