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By Will Bredderman
Brooklyn Daily
The state dealt a deathblow to controversial Ridge nightspot 93 Lounge on Aug. 13 — but the knock-out punch was a bit of a left hook.
After years of pleas by local residents and politicians, the State Liquor Authority finally decided to yank the 93rd Street watering hole’s liquor license — but not for the fighting, noise, and drug activity neighbors have complained of for years, nor for the incident last New Year’s Eve when two patrons allegedly mowed down four fellow revelers on the sidewalk outside with a vehicle.
Rather, the agency pulled the booze permit because the lounge was allowing customers to dance without having a cabaret license, and did not a written list of its bouncers on hand when police stopped by on Feb. 2.
“At least one person was dancing inside the licensed premises on Feb. 2,” said deciding Judge David Lindenbaum. “And I find that the licensee was not adequately maintaining a security guard roster.”
The decision came after the authority voted to grant and later renew the bar’s liquor license in 2010 and 2012, against the recommendations of Community Board 10. Sources at the 68th Precinct had long identified the bar as a “problem location,” and people living along the mostly residential block between Third and Fourth avenues said last year that they were living in terror of the gun-toting, crack-smoking thugs they said converged on the club each weekend.
The hangout frequently posted photos of DJ-ed dance parties on its Facebook page despite not having a city-issued cabaret license, and Buildings Department records showed the location did not even have a certificate of occupancy — meaning that, legally, the lounge could not even allow people inside.
The state Worker’s Compensation Board shut the club down this April for failing to properly insure its employees, and police took co-owner Ronald Coury, Jr. into custody. The establishment never re-opened.
Co-owner Ronald Coury Sr. hung up when called for comment.
The 93 Lounge was the just most recent scandal-scarred club to occupy the storefront space at the Prince Hotel — a spot that residents say has hosted drug-dealers and prostitutes for decades.
Reach reporter Will Bredderman at wbredderman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4507. Follow him at twitter.com/WillBredderman.