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Is The 420 Bar And Lounge Too "Urban" For The UWS?
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 17, 2011
Modified Mar 17, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 17, 2011
Modified Mar 17, 2011
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An Upper West Side bar owner believes that the police are unfairly targeting his establishment because it has an "urban" vibe—but the police say they are merely following up on reports of drug activity, fighting and underage drinking. Considering the fact that the name of this establishment is the 420 Bar and Lounge, we can't think of a reason why the police would be keeping an eye out for drugs!
So far we haven't been able to find any petitions against the bar's "urban" music, but that isn't stopping owner Eric Holzer from complaining to DNAinfo that his bar is "the only urban club over there that plays hip-hop music, and as much as they may not admit to it, that's the reason why we get scrutinized more than the other clubs." The police meanwhile say that the club is just one of many they have been checking up on.
But we're sure that Holzer is right, and that there is no way a bar on Amsterdam and 80th Street, which has a history of noise complaints from neighbors, is being targeted because it chose to use a cliched name directly related to drug culture. No way that the $5,000 fine it had to pay the SLA in 2008 after a fight broke out on its premises has anything to do with the police keeping an eye on it. No siree. Not a bit.
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420 bar and loung
manhattan
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sla
Upper West Side
Garth Johnston
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