It's June everybody! Happy Pride! I'm proud to say Club Cumming is back up and running after getting our new license from the State Liquor Authority with none of the stipulations that our local community board tried to put on us. We complied and tried to make good, paid the fine, had the support of many politicians including our local council member Carlina Rivera, council member Rafael Espinal and the speaker of the City Council Corey Johnson. We had a huge wave of support both in terms of people attending meetings, petitions signed, letters written on our behalf by cultural figures and local residents saying how what we have created at Club Cumming in terms of inclusivity, kindness, queer performance and above all community is unsurpassed in the city. Also various land attorneys spoke early on about the erroneous claims of the community board and the demands they were making on us. It's hard to see what the gain was in all of this. We fought only to have the right to go on as before. A bureaucratic error many, many years ago that had been ignored or overlooked or turned a blind eye to suddenly became an issue not because of any complaints the bar received, but because according to the community board the enormous amount of publicity the bar has engendered. I just hope as much publicity is given to the waste of time, effort and money before the community board withdrew their complaint last week.
So many people lost their income, the bar receipts plummeted, our legal fees rocketed, all to bring us back to square one and to be operating as before. And for what? For the good of our community? if we were a business that was not owned by people who have other incomes, we could easily gone under with the costs and loss of business involved. I hope our victory and the fact that CB3 had misread the zoning laws will help other small bars and restaurants who have to encounter such aggressive and ill-informed community boards in the future.
Here's a great article that pretty much sums it all up
Anyway we are back, stronger than ever and with a new website launching soon, loads of amazing performers and DJs on the schedule and a summer of fun to look forward to. Thanks to everyone for your incredible support during these last few months. Onwards and upwards!
