Thursday, March 24, 2011

New Nightclub Approved On Main Street

The owners of the successful Esca Restaurant and Wine Bar on Main Street appeared before the Planning and Zoning Commission last night, to ask for a special exception to operate a night club in the property that was formerly the Firehouse Grill. The commissioners, swayed by the success of Esca, and by the support of the Downtown Business District, unanimously approved the application, with some conditions.


Gaetano Bramato, of the Bramato family which owns Esca, wrote in his application, "'Titanium' is going to be set up as a Fusion Café and Lounge that will offer light fare and casual Entertainment... Our lounge area will be set up with comfortable lounge sofas and chairs with café style tables where guests can sit back and relax ..."

Bramato said that there would be a dance floor upstairs, with entertainment offered by live bands, comedians, and occasionally DJs.

P&Z approval came with a number of conditions, many of which were recommended by Planning Department staff:
•The business plan must be part of the approval, so that any change in concept would require new P&Z approval.
•The Special Exception permit could be revoked if there are repeated Health or Fire Code or Liquor license violations.
•The sidewalk must be cleaned each morning.

Similar conditions have been imposed on other recently approved downtown venues, including Mezzo's, The Shadow Room, Public, and Downtown Bar.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do we realy need another place where people will drink then drive home? Or to another bar?

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to this, as long as it's not rap.

Anonymous said...

will the owners also allow someone to park a car on the sidewalk of their property, as at Esca on the Washington St side?

will the City ever actually tow cars parked right on the sidewalk?

Anonymous said...

Seconded! Parked cars on the sidewalk area, in my opinion is tacky, and disrespectful to your customers,the city and her residents even if you do own the property. IT has torqued me since Esca opened and for that reason we have never patronized the establishment. Recently I've begun to see a second car parked there.

City Hall is there nothing you can do, to address this issue either by ordinance or an arrangement for parking nearby-even if the city has to step-up to pay or barter for it!

Please Esca do the right thing and find another place to park your carS!

Anonymous said...

I believe in a post sometime over the last year this parking space was mentioned as the owner having permission from the DOT to park there. Nonetheless, I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with these post-ers above:
a business owner should never take up physical or visual space with their own car!!! It is almost as though their own car is invisible to them, because they can't see what it looks like from the other side of the street.
ANd those lights that are too bright!

Karen Swartz said...

Anon AKA *as long as its not rap* You are ignorant and I feel sorry for you that you would think and write such a stupid comment. Sincerely, Karen Swartz

Anonymous said...

Uh-oh. Be careful what you think. You too may be stupid and ignorant.

Karen Swartz said...

I agree with Anon AKA Be Careful What You Think. If you think that an entire category of music should be singled out as unwanted or unwelcome, you may be ignorant.

Anonymous said...

Yeah.

Except disco. That was just flat-out wrong.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Karen. I can't let you twist my words. You can get away with saying someone is ignorant for writing that but you have no call to say they can't even "think" it. And how do you know he or she wasn't joking?

Karen Swartz said...

You are twisting my words. Think whatever you want, just know it might be an ignorant thought! I like to think that all art and music in Middletown is adding value to our cultural landscape regardless of the style or genre. I find it difficult to understand the original comment from 802am. I don't like sushi, but if I heard that a new restaurant was opening, it would not occur to me to say "great, as long as its not sushi". To me, that sort of reaction comes from a negative mindset that I find tiring and insufferable.

Anonymous said...

And I am sure that Karen doesn't get the irony in her last statement. No one is allowed to express, or even think, a negative opinion about a style of music, yet she is willing to express her negative opinion of the quality of the writer's mind and character. Does that make her insufferable?

GlassHalfFull said...

Been searching police records for stabbings and shootings at sushi restaurants.

Karen Swartz said...

Hi ANON. What you describe is hypocrisy, not irony. Either way you are incorrect. I said I feel sorry for people who think hateful thoughts, and I pointed out how certain types of thoughts with broad sweeping generalizations are usually uninformed. I did not and never would say that people shouldn't think. In fact, I encourage thinking wholeheartedly. I wish everyone would do more thinking. I am looking forward to seeing whatever it is that the night club ends up being and I will give it a chance and support it no matter what style of music or night club it is. Go ahead, write back if you will, I will give you the last word.

data driven said...

Searching for facts - great idea. How about looking up the statistics on fires, assaults, crowd crush and mosh pit injuries and deaths at rock and punk concerts.

Anonymous said...

Karen, this is what you wrote. "You are ignorant and I feel sorry for you that you would think and write such a stupid comment." Your words, not mine. By the way, I am only one of the Anons that called you on stooping to intolerance and name-calling. You can have the last word by admitting you were wrong.

Anonymous said...

Karen, I think you are in the wrong here and owe an apology to Anon 8:02. Please go back and re-read the comment: "I'm looking forward to it, as long as it's not rap."

Is the writer not allowed to have a personal opinion about rap music, and to decide not to patronize venues that play music he/she doesn't enjoy?

All you actually know is that if the new club features rap music, Anon is not looking forward to it. That could mean that he/she thinks rap music is inherently objectionable (which is the conclusion to which you leapt) or just doesn't enjoy it. Either conclusion is equally possible, yet you choose to assume the worst.

Thou art holier than Anon.

Anonymous said...

Karen is entitled to her opinion too, back off she owes no one anything.

Anonymous said...

Karen is entitled to her opinion but not to get all self-righteous about it or to dictate how others should think.

Karen's exact quote: "You are ignorant . . .". That's a declarative statement, not an expression of opinion. Then Karen goes on to characterize Anon's opinion ("hey, I really don't care for rap music") as stupid.

To me, that sort of reaction comes from a negative mindset that I find tiring and insufferable.

joseph getter said...

First thing: all too often, a comment or criticism about rap isn't just about the sound of the music; it's a disguised racist, classist comment about poor people of color.

Second thing: if one really expects to have a dialog (and expects apologies online), then sign your name, don't be anonymous.

Anonymous said...

"all too often, a comment or criticism about rap isn't just about the sound of the music; it's a disguised racist, classist comment about poor people of color."

So therefore Karen is entitled automatically to assume that this is what Anon 8:02 meant and to characterize his/her comment as "hateful" and him/her as "ignorant."

Got it, thanks, Mr. Getter.

joseph getter said...

To Eye editors -- why do you allow anonymous postings that include such sarcastic and critical words towards signed comments? I think that is a terrible editorial policy.

To Anonymous posters -- step up and sign your names. If you believe what you say, put your name behind it. Otherwise, you have zero credibility.

Karen Swartz said...

I do admit that I jumped to a conclusion about the meaning of the comment posted by Anon802am, and that my initial reaction was with harsh words. I fell into a common trap that is set when a coded message is stated (thank you Joseph Getter for pointing that out). Based on past experiences and countless discussions and exchanges I have had with people about rap music it was a very logical leap in my mind. We can argue to no end about what Anon802 meant but only Anon802 can clarify it and I haven't seen Anon802 come forward to truthfully explain what he/she meant. I doubt it was a simple statement of musical preference. Anon802 only mentioned one specific type of music and that they do not want it, rather than stating what they do want and hope for. Surely there are other types of music that Anon802 dislikes, but only rap was mentioned. And reference the later post from GlassHalfFull about “stabbings and shootings.” I made some valid and important points that could have led to an intelligent conversation. However, anonymous people seem to feel that it is more important to point out that name-calling is mean, rather than to actually address an issue and have a dialogue about it. I do understand that it's easy to get stuck on incendiary terms like “ignorant” and “stupid” and thereby have difficulty in sticking with the meaning of a message. For this reason I do regret my choice of words and tone that I used. Everyone makes mistakes and this is one of those times for me. I will still continue to challenge people's thinking every chance I get. I do not owe anyone an apology unless they have the decency to identify themselves, explain themselves, and explain how I have offended them.

Madam Nirvana (Molly Salafia) said...

Karen, I think your great, and you don't owe anyone anything. Free speak, free thoughts.

Anonymous said...

"Free speak, free thoughts" unless you don't like rap. We've come full circle, haven't we.