Los Amigos Restaurant in Westbury is seeking to stay open until 3 a.m.; however, several blemishes on their record might make that request a little harder to grant.
At a public hearing at the village board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5, the restaurant, located at 501 Union Ave., asked the board to approve a special use permit that would allow them to stay open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Currently, the restaurant is open until 10 p.m.
Luis Rodriguez, Los Amigos’ legal counsel, claimed that the business was operating in a clean, safe manner, with two on-site security guards from a private security company keeping things peaceful. He also said that the restaurant, which has been open since 2004, has had minimal contact with the Nassau County Police Department (NCPD). However, these claims were contested by village administrators and residents.
“Contrary to what was put on the record by the counsel, we do have reports of at least eight incidences in the last 12 months of interaction with NCPD,” said senior building inspector Bill Mello.
Those incidences include reports of assault, domestic violence, larceny and misuse to a vehicle, according to Mello. The handful of residents who attended the meeting said they had called the police on multiple occasions because of rowdy patrons and excessive noise coming from the restaurant.
The building department has also issued at least three noise violations to the restaurant in the last four months.
“This was not your normal noise. This was over the top and could be heard from three, four or even five blocks away,” Mello said.
The restaurant was also cited eight times in the last year for operating past the allowed hours of operation, on several occasions staying open past midnight. At least one of these incidences did coincide with the police activity; on Sept. 29 at 2 a.m. police were called for a physical altercation between a male and female who were patrons of the restaurant.
Restaurant owner Mario Reyes said he stayed open on several occasions past the allotted time because customers came in at or close to closing and he didn’t want to throw out food that wouldn’t last until the next day.
Rodriguez said the restaurant is not functioning as a nightclub; however, residents living near the establishment say loud music and inebriated people wandering onto their property is a consistent problem.
“It’s like a nightclub, you can hear the music until 2 or 3 a.m.,” said Flo Alvarez who owns a home on Nassau Street. “You can never find parking because people leave their cars there and call a cab because they’re drunk. People come out and just throw themselves on the ground, drunk. And this is almost every night, this is constantly.”
Rodriguez claimed the business was suffering because it could not keep up with competing restaurants outside of the village, which were able to stay open much later.
“Surrounding areas outside the village are not restricted in the same manner,” Rodriguez said. “This restriction puts an economic burden on my client.”
However, Mayor Peter Cavallaro said that Reyes was repeatedly violating the law, and that he knew the regulations when he decided to open his business in the village.
“When he chose to do business [here], he knew what the law was,” Cavallaro said. “If he chose to come in here with those hours of operation, that’s a business risk.”
Also applying for a special permit at the meeting was Kabul Kabob Restaurant at 247 Post Ave. The Mediterranean restaurant, which is still under construction, asked to have their hours of operation extended until midnight to accommodate patrons coming out of the Space. The 38-seat establishment does not serve liquor and said while they plan to stay open until 11 p.m. most nights, they want to have the extra hour on event nights.
“We don’t want to violate the law,” said owner Abdul Mosauer. “There’s plenty of people who pour out of [the Space] and hopefully they’re hungry.”
The special use permit application hearings for both Los Amigos and Kabul Kabob will pick up at next month’s meeting on Dec. 3, when the planning board will bring their recommendations before the board.
