East Setauket restaurant owner Sam Chan is looking to open an 84-seat Asian fusion restaurant at 1215 Jericho Tpke. in New Hyde Park, the former spot of the maligned Empire Billiards Hall
The 3,280-square-foot restaurant would be staffed by 15 employees. Chan and property owner Mark Sommer, a Dix Hills dentist, are requesting 25 off-street parking spaces.
“[Parking was] the only issue we were having a discussion about,” Sommer said after a public hearing last week in front of the village’s board of trustees.
Village reps indicated Chan and Sommer may negotiate with nearby businesses to use its parking facilities to accommodate restaurant patrons.
“They need 25 parking spaces, they’re offering zero,” Mayor Robert Lofaro said. “They’re going to talk to the Roosevelt Savings Bank to provide some parking in the evening.”
Chan said the restaurant would operate Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. He expects the restaurant would be ready in four to six months if approved.
Chan owns two other Asian eateries in Port Jefferson and Selden. Chan wants to lease the New Hyde Park property for 15 years.
“It’s about location,” Chan stated “It’s in a good location. If you don’t have the right spot, it wouldn’t work.”
Sommer and Chan met with the village’s board of zoning appeals on Sept. 10, who reserved its decision, awaiting village board approval. The board of trustees is still waiting for direction from the Nassau County Planning Commission to make a determination.
“Hopefully we’ll hear back from Nassau County before [the BZA] meets and we’ll be able to make a decision,” Lofaro said. “Then the BZA will make its determination.”
The billiard hall was met with extreme criticism and community outrage for some time before its closing on June 30, 2013. Village residents had routinely complained of noise and unruly patrons at the site.
“I had a meeting with the mayor and the board last year and they wanted to know our intentions,” Sommer stated. “I wanted to find a tenant who can live within the rules of the village. I believe we found someone in [Chan].”
Residents were vociferous at recent board meetings, particularly with fights, public intoxication and even a human appendage.
“I live around the block, three houses down and an EMT walks up to me and asks for ice to put an ear in,” resident Jennifer Schneider said at the time. “It’s disgusting. There’s stabbings, shootings, people getting hit by cars because of fights…it’s uncalled for.”
New Hyde Park imposed harsher parking restrictions in the aftermath of issues arising from Empire and the surrounding area, prohibiting parking from 12 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“It’s our goal to improve it and make it attractive,” Sommer said. “This is not a business predicated on the sale of alcohol.”
Empire had been previously summonsed by the village for violating its code for operating as a billiard hall without a permit. The village revoked its permit in 2012. New Hyde Park had to order the club to remove a DJ booth and dance floor.
“The guys that ran it formerly, they had permits for one type of business and they tried to operate it as another type of business,” Sommer said. “They were interested in selling booze.”
The hall’s previous manager Harinder Singh pleaded guilty to $2,000 in violations in village court in May 2013, according to officials.
Nassau County police in 2013 reported to village officials that 14 official complaints had been filed against Empire in 2013. Fights, parking issues, noise and public urination near the club, but not necessarily stemming from the hall, were a few issues raised by concerned residents.
