***I DONT LIKE vid-e-o BCAUSE THERE IS NO RIC FLAIR IN it***

ok ok, close it down and then re-open it as a Sports/Wine Bar. i think this would be the perfect combination that would appeal precisely to the new Park Slope demographic.

how does one vote this fool out of his psotion? I live in the hood.

what a drag it is getting old...

Wow, that's bad. Instead of reporting this Crow character to the fire marshalls, Union Hall should report this guy to the DA's office. "Falsely Reporting an Incident" is actually a crime, and particularly bad when there's a battalion fire chief called to the scene in addition to all the other fireman who wasted their time on this nonsense. This guy should be prosecuted.

OBAMA WHERE YOU AT?

I am willing to contribute money in order to buy Jon Crow a one-way ticket to Florida. He needs to be put in a retirement home ASAP. Or alternativelly, we can get him a pistol and a single bullet. If he is such a miserable person, he is better just offing himself. The world will be better without him, and his grief will end. Win/win situation.

Park Slope gets lamer and lamer everyday. How did these fools end up in NYC? Go back to the burbs. The same thing happened in my old neighborhood in Los Angeles. A hoard of fools who could no longer afford to live in Santa Monica or Westwood, where they really wanted to live, tried to shut down Spaceland. The bar had been in its location since the '60s, but these folks wanted to turn my great neighborhood into Rodeo Drive, with shitty expensive shops and sushi bars and a Starbucks every five feet. Luckily the old timers in the hood, voted them down. Don't give into the fools, Union Hall.

Brooklyn is for ugly people who cant afford to live in the city. Close it down! But at least it not as dangerous as 200 (the bar across the street).

dude...200 5th on karaoke night is the shit. a bunch of thugs sing luther vandross songs to their big ladies.

its awesome.

I wonder what jack thinks of all this.

Union Pool is not a good place to listen to live music. The acoustics are terrible. In the end, it wouldn't matter if the venue closed.

old hippies suck

dude's got balls tho. if i was him i woulda beat it instead of standing there to face the principal or whoever

He should be sued for slander if possible.

Commenter Shaneeza Aziz: this article is about Union Hall, not Union Pool. Try reading sometime, you might like it.

That's funny, i thought Shanzeezzah Na-Gig was talking about Union Docs.

I Hate You, Jon Crow!

that guy should go to jail.

Tomorrow (05/14) could change Brooklyn nightlife as we know it.

Community Board 6’s advisory board lead by Lou Sones (the owner of Brazen Head) is taking action against Union Hall of Park Slope. They are recommending the removal of their liquor license based on a group of about 5 people from Union street, with no facts generated to prove any violations. I repeat… THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE AWAY UNION HALL’S LIQUOR LICENSE WITHOUT A SINGLE VIOLATION! If this is allowed it could set a chain-reaction through the night life scene. If they can deny the renewal of a liquor license for an establishment with no violations they will be able to close down anyone they like.

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN!

The General Board will be meeting on this and other matters at the address and time listed bellow. Show up in numbers with signs stating your support for Union Hall and Brooklyn Nightlife. The press will be there and we have to put the pressure on

Borough Hall Court Room / 6:30PM
May 14, 2008
209 Joralemon St
Brooklyn, NY

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

nah

real hipsters don't play bocce at union hall. they play petanque on smith street. ok. now that we have that straight.

you fucks. jesus. comparing shutting this place down to "the end of culture as we know it?' why don't you find a short pier, and take a long walk. better yet - stab me in the ear so i don't have to hear your whinging any more. fucking shirt-lifters.

union hall is a total newcomer to the area. it's not some bastion of culture. it's a money-making bar just like any other, only this one has a bunch of 'roid rage dickhead bouncers working the door. they are about the worst neighbors you could possibly have - and i live next door to a DIFFERENT music bar in the slope and i know the difference.

if this is what passes for alternative culture in NYC, give me 200 5th Ave. any day of the week. at least the people there are real, and they respect their neighbors. unlike the pathetic "hipsters' being protected from mean, nasty union street by a bunch of dudes they'd otherwise cross the street to avoid walking past in any other situation.

union hall -shape up or GET OUT.

what do the bouncers do? if that's the problem it seems like sorta an easy-out resolution to this, no?

what time does Daft Punk go on?

Anon 9:38, are you retarded?
Union Hall has bocce ball in the upper floor. On the lower floor, they host an excellent array of bands in this neat little room, hosted by this dude named Skippy, who fucking rocks.
The music at Union Hall fits a nice little niche -- bands that are probably not quite big enough to play Southpaw, but who need to be heard in south Brooklyn.
Here are some of the bands who have played at Union Hall: Freedy Johnston, Sloan, Tall Firs, White Rabbits, The Diggs, Jay Bennett of Wilco, Cassettes Won't Listen, Takka Takka, Kimya Dawson, Mark Eitzel, Richard Buckner, Beat Radio, Andrew Bird, and Ollabelle.

Hey, 9:38, the main bouncer at UH is one of the nicest, most respectful guys on the planet. From the tone of your comment, it sounds like you're the one with 'roid rage.

to 9:38 - never had any issue with the union hall bouncers. More importantly, this business is a lot of people's livelihoods and a small minority of curmudgeons is trying to bring financial ruin to them based on falsehoods and distortions. Why shouldn’t people be mad about that?

THE FACTS:

http://unionhallny.com/cb6_info/Efforts_Timeline.html
http://unionhallny.com/cb6_info/index.html

ohhhhhh snap no he didnt

This place is terrrrrrrible! It allows all negative stereotypes of the inide music scene to exist. Make it go away and fast! Is there anyway to speed up this process?

11:20, How does Union Hall "allow negative stereotypes of the indie music scene to exist"? What a horrible overgeneralized statement. I guess if it doesn't fit into your ideal it shouldn't exist at all in your eyes. One-dimensional people like you who are unable to see the big picture are part of the problem. Wake up.

Some of you guys are missing the point.

It really doesn't matter how you feel about the scene at Union Hall. The question is whether it has the right to be there. If you don't like Union Hall (or any other bar, nightclub, etc.) then simply don't go. Not caring if it got closed down is NOT a valid reason for letting it be shut down if there are no legitimate grounds for doing so. I've never been to Union Hall, so personally I'm not going to miss anything if it suddenly disappeared. But I don't like the idea that an establishment could be shut down without any legit infractions. That's the issue here, not whether you enjoy the bar. And from what I've seen and read so far, Union Hall doesn't seem to have done anything wrong.

they should replace UH with a laundromat, then it'd be easier for me to do my laundry

the bouncers at Union Hall denied entry to a friend who is in his mid 30's because he forgot his ID.

fair enough. the law is the law. sucks for my friend. he didn't argue or protest. he then walked away to the curb to talk on his cell to figure out where to go next.

the bouncer proceeded to FOLLOW him, 50 feet away from the entrance, and threatened to kick his ass if he didn't leave the block.

nobody wants to indiscriminately threaten peoples livelihoods. by the same token, their continued presence is ruining the quality of life for people who live on what is otherwise a residential block. there's no reason these 2 worlds cannot co-exist. it just happens to be that union hall are terrible neighbors with no respect for anyone living around them.

and the lineups you mention are fine. i love most of those acts. but i don't care if doug fucking martsch descended from the heavens and fellated frank black on that downstairs stage while playing a 45-minute version of cortez the killer, the fact of the matter is the folks at union hall need to treat their neighbors with more respect. isn't THAT part of indie cred, too?

12:20 - I like how in your post you complain that the UH bouncer wouldn't let your friend stand on the sidewalk on Union Street and talk on his phone - i.e. create noise in front of the bar, which if I'm not mistaken is exactly what the neighbors have a problem with and why people are protesting.

I think what you wrote just proved Union Hall's case.

Jon Crow, is that you?

[I don't believe the story]

Wait, so Union Hall is a bad neighbor because the patrons are loud while on the Union Street sidewalk?

or

Union Hall is a bad neighbor because their bouncers are "assholes" because they ask the loud people on the Union Street sidewalk to move elsewhere or be quiet?

One is the opposite of the other, so which is it? Make up your mind you big bunch of Park Slope complainers.

people should go easier on Jon Crow. if Blair from Gossip Girl were pulling vindictive tricks to get Union Hall shut down, i'd be totally into it!

12:20 The neighbors' actions are 100% to blame for 30 and 40 year olds being carded, and for strollers not being allowed in the bar, and for bouncers being there period. They have created this environment themselves by making Union Hall so goddamn afraid of doing anything wrong or getting any violations.

12:27, ummm, no. Talking on the phone is something that happens on every Brooklyn street. Talking on the phone doesn't create a noise problem. A-hole bar owners who don't invest in proper soundproofing does, however.

PS - the bouncer didn't ask him to lower his voice, which if it WAS too loud would have been a reasonably civil request. No, he ordered him off the block (?). And threatened to kick his ass. For no reason. Whatsoever.

There are 2 issues:
1) A loud bar with no respect for its neighbors
2) Asshole bouncers

I'll leave the utter contradiction of yuppies playing bocce ball in a place that's dressed up to to look like a library in a Rhodesian general's plantation house, upstairs from kids in $200 jeans and $100 haircuts acting bored at a rock show for a different thread.

what if Union Hall printed out "Neighbor Badges" that Neighbors could wear around their necks. then the bouncers would know who not to fuck with, but they could still be assholes to the dipshits who spend to much on their haircuts???

why can't union hall just do something to be more neighborly?

it's one thing if you moved in and knew a rock club had been there, but there ARE people who were living there LONG before a loud rock club decided to open up next door.

i'm sure most of the people defending the bar go home to a quieter place at night. even in NYC. or at least, not next to a place with loud bands playing every night.

seems like a pretty simple thing to do, for the bar just to try to be a bit more respectful instead of fighting everything. the fact that they don't seems lame.

BTW...LOL @ anon May 13 5:06 p.m. 200 fifth is dangerous? Hilarious, dude. 200 Fifth is where you go to watch a ballgame and watch puerto ricans, blacks and hasidic jews hug each otehr after david wright hits a homer for the mets. oh, i get it. they don't look like you so it's dangerous.

A loud rock club? The neighbor's complaints actually center around loud people on the street's voices when the bar closes at night and has nothing to do with the music or soundproofing. There are no noise issues that have been reported originating from inside the bar as far as I have heard. Has anyone responding to this thread seen the video or attended the last community board meeting where complaints were voiced? From what I can tell they were all about people on the streets.

Yeah, I keep seeing this thing "LOUD ROCK CLUB". Nothing could be further from the truth. This entire situation has been so exaggerated, down to Crow's 911 calls, it's not funny anymore.

I'm wondering, who's the one not being neighborly? I'd be thrilled to have Union Hall on my street. Oh wait, I already do! I plan on being there tonight to show support to my neighborhood bar and look forward to their continued illustrious events and friendly neighborhood vibe.

"loud rock club" - you sound really old and lame. What are you doing on BV anyway? I smell a rat.

Does "being neighborly" include committing crimes to try and shut down the bar like this Crow character did. I hope someone brings this up at the meeting tonight. Jon Crow is caught on video actually falsely reporting an incident, having multiple firemen and a battalion chief respond to this false report, and its all documented. No matter what happens with Union Hall, Crow should be prosecuted by endangering the rest of the neighborhood and the FDNY by calling in a false report.

hey can we shut down studio B next? i HATE that place

to anon 1:37 p.m.

grow up. old does not equal lame. that's just a pathetic attitude.

ok - y'all can continue arguing about your loud rock club and expensive haircuts and park slope yuppies (that's *rich* - you're all a bunch of yuppies to the pizza man, even if you do pay extra to have your jeans distressed)

2:22, I'm in my 30s, thanks. I didn't say old equals lame, I said they sound old and also that they sound lame. Old is a state of mind, and the "screw union hall" poster certainly sounds like they are in the old state of mind to me.

there is a lot of sand in a lot of vaginas today on this thread.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1151082/

let's shut down the rest of park slope and keep union hall open? then maybe I would go.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425308/

Starring Jon Crow & Roberta Frigid

i'm old but i'm not lame. i saw sonic youth at mccarren park pool last summer, and i already have tickets to built to spill, dinosaur jr and meat puppets at terminal 5. i've partied with reverand horton heat and won a game of H-O-R-S-E against sir mix-a-lot. baby don't got a jump shot.

just because you hate the fuckers at union hall doesn't mean you hate music. it means you hate dipshit hipsters who think because park slope has babies and subarus it needs a shitty bar with bocce ball to make it cool again.

screw union hall. shut the place down.

Well regardless of who you've partied with you sound like you've got a corn cob up your ass. If you hate Union Hall then don't go there. It's simple. Live and let live.

live and let live - exactly the kind of trite gibberish i'd expect. you rent the place next door, ya silver spoon a-hole. anon 3:41 will be living in paramus before he does that, fleeing to the 'burbs with all of the other trustafarians bleating away on here.

I would gladly rent the place next door (responding to a comment I didn't write). I think that's the point here. The very few but vociferous neighbors are the ones who don't belong here, NOT the bar. I can't believe I just said that, but it's true! I just can't believe anyone actually gives them any creedence.

Hey 3:37 - miss "screw union hall",

Like most of my friends, I'm old. I have a kid and a Subaru. I'm a native New Yorker. I used to live in PS, some I know still do. You, however, are a disgrace.

Who gives a shit about another fucking bar? Well, they've added to the economy, safety and desirability of the area. They give us oldsters an excuse to get out of the house. I've never been to Union Hall and likely won't ever. But, privileged assholes like Crow are Luddites. He's some fucking old purple PS co-op fart who forgot that the only constant in NY is change. And who could predict things would change on Union St. Um...duh?

So, let's approve of a verifiable douche calling 911. Holy shit, that's the deal closer for me if nothing else is. It's illegal, immoral, unethical and infinitely selfish.

Seriously, am I dreaming? Did you really write in the BV comments "i saw sonic youth at mccarren park pool last summer, and i already have tickets to built to spill, dinosaur jr and meat puppets at terminal 5." Dude, NOW I'm ashamed to be old. Yuck.

I do live down the street. If I didn't have a fan for white noise I'd be awake all the time thanks to sirens and planes and horns and everything else. But this is Brooklyn and NOT Paramus, thank God. So I gladly deal with it.

3:56, do you live next door? are you that idiot from the video who called 911 for no reason? Because that person should have a gag order in respect to saying anything about Union Hall.

"I saw Sonic Youth ... and have tickets to Built to Spill..." Hilarious. You can't make this shit up.

Wow, man. You are so cool. No one else give an opinion! You are irrelevant. He/she has played basketball with Sir Mix-a-lot.

Hahahaha.

Rock on, Union Hall.

Whether you like or hate Union Hall, people are ignoring one thing: John Crow fraudulently called 911, diverting resources from actual emergencies. As an ER nurse, I have to point out: not only do fire trucks turn out to these calls, but so do paramedics and EMTs, in order to handle possible casualties of the overcrowding. So at least one fire crew and two ambulances were pulled out of service, unable to respond to REAL emergencies in order to respond to John Crow's big fat LIE. This is an abuse of public resources and deserves to be prosecuted.

Who the fuck are these neighbors to say a place "doesn't belong"? I'd like to remind all of them that this is a "free" country and they opened their business LEGALLY. If the city passes a law that they can't open there... then the neighbors have a point. If they are operating legally, then no one has a right to tell them they can't be there. There are zoning restrictions to keep businesses like this from opening in certain places... obviously, this is not one of them, so why is this even a debate?
The market decides whether a business "belongs" somewhere. Union Hall is thriving, so that means it "belongs" there... as long as the owners want to be there and they are operating legally.

uh... what time is daft punk going on?

I wish these comments would focus on the issue at hand, instead of some weak "argument" about the definition of a hipster, as if the type of clientelle a place draws has ANY bearing on the actual issue at hand.

Are the "neighbors" (Jon Crow and company) complaining about the bar itself? Or about the people that it draws? It sounds like they have no leg to stand on if they are complaining about the bar itself, as there have been no violations to complain about (not counting the invented ones, of course). If they are complaining about the people who go there, well, since when does any establishment have the ability to control who comes to their business on any given night? The bar seems to be doing what it can to keep the bar quiet. If the people on the block are complaining about patrons being too loud on the street outside, well, that seems to be outside the bar's control. The bouncers can ask people to move along. Really, what more can they do? Short of putting a time-release muzzle on everyone as they leave that prevents anyone from talking until they leave the area, I don't know what else the neighbors expect the bar to do. I do know that I don't think its an unrealistic expectation in the middle of NYC to have to deal with some loud noises.

I wonder if the people who want to shut down UH are aware that the patrons of UH probably are aware of what they are trying to do, and probably upset about it. It wouldn't surprise me if people were actually being louder than normal because of all the bitching the neighbors have been doing.

Was at the meeting. Not only did the board vote 20-7-7 to reject the motion to deny the liquor license, but they put forth and approved a motion to tell the State Liquor Board that they are in FAVOR of UH getting a renewal of their liquor license. :) :)

oh man does this mean studio B stays open too? nuts, i had all these plans

I think it was actually 30-4 for the first vote AGAINST the measure to recommend not renewing their license. This was a wholly different meeting than the first last week. Opponents were dealt a very harsh blow and some were actually seen drinking in Union Hall afterwards! Maybe there's peace after all in Park Slope?

hooray! Too bad for jack.

My Bad! I meant to write Union HALL!

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