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Kenmare, Obnoxious Not-Open Club, Already in SLA Trouble
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 24, 2010
Modified Feb 24, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 24, 2010
Modified Feb 24, 2010
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To the untrained eye, this photo depicts a packed restaurant in full swing at the height of dinner service. But what you're really looking at here is just a few friends getting together for a quiet dinner at Kenmare, the new restaurant/nightclub from the infamously exclusive Beatrice Inn crowd. It's only been "soft" open for a couple weeks now, and already neighborhood opposition—which also brought down the Beatrice Inn—is mounting. It seems there were a bunch of raucous parties during fashion week, and now the SLA is poised to bring the hammer down on the place.
Kenmare has been crawling with celebrities like Mick Jagger all month, and the revelers got so rowdy that Guy Vantresca, 54, who lives above Kenmare, called the manager to complain. "He told me the DJ was going to move everything downstairs to the lounge," Vantresca tells the Daily News. That's a problem, because apparently the owners never told the SLA or Community Board 2 about the basement dance club!
"We are paying close attention to them," says SLA Deputy Chief Executive Officer Michael Jones. "They are supposed to be operating as a restaurant." And Community Board 2 Chairwoman Jo Hamilton tells the News,"When you read in a blog that Mick Jagger is dancing, it is illegal in that location." Kenmare owner Lou Ceruzzi insists everyone's overreacting, explaining, "We are not yet open" but "did host our friends for a few dinners during Fashion Week." It's a tough call: We're all for piling on the nightlife scenesters, but can we really side with someone who thinks it's illegal for Mick Jagger to dance anywhere?
Tagged
beatrice
Kenmare
paul sevigny
sla
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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