Trying to put lipstick on a pig

They're back.

The people who tried to open a strip club in Sunnyside Gardens now say they want to open a "family restaurant" that stays open until 3am. Tonight, the owners of the notorious Punto G, now known as Calibar, also presented Department of Buildings approved architectural plans that include two DJ booths, though they promise there wont be any dancing.

At a community board committee hearing Wednesday night, Emilio Rubio and his accountant Jack Chang presented plans for the corner of 48th street and Barnett Ave. Rubio's wife, Lida Barona sat silently as they tried to sell the idea of a "family restaurant" to a disbelieving board and a standing room only crowd, unified in opposition.

Chang feebly offered up a brief biography of Mr. Rubio's and Ms. Barona's experiences at the Extravaganza dance club where Rubio worked as a security guard and another place called La Fonda.

The owners want to keep this "family restaurant" open until 3am on weekends and would close up at midnight on weeknights. When asked if the owners would be open to adjusting the hours, Chang snapped, "he's allowed to be open until 4am."

The best part came when Chang described my neighborhood as a "manufacturing area" and dismissed concerns about parking because "there's plenty of parking in the area at night."
The room erupted in laughter at the suggestion that parking is easy in Sunnyside Gardens.

The floor plans submitted tonight included two DJ booths. They want to blast tropical and Colombian music and envision two flat screen TVs on the walls of the windowless warehouse. They plan to hire a firm called Forte security, where Mr. Rubio worked for 3 years.

A letter in opposition from Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan was entered in the record. No mention of the LIRR east side access project that will cause major upheaval at this location in the near future.

These people are trying to put lipstick on a pig. They obviously want to open a sleazy dance bar and don't think we can stop them. The arrogant and blatant disregard for our community was clear in their presentation. We already have two round the clock businesses across the street from this place. There are plenty of nice places to buy alcohol in the area, we don't need another. They don't know or care that there is nowhere to park in this neighborhood. I hope they spend every last cent they have on shady lawyers, accountants, and architects. We will stop them. The battle lines are drawn.