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State Licenses and Permits

701 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10036, 701 SEVENTH PROPERTY OWNER LLC, application for a new on-premises liquor license

WHEREAS, Scott C. Alper, as President of Witkoff, the developer of behalf of 701 Seventh Property Owner LLC (the "Applicant"), has notified Community Board Five of its intention to file for a new on-premises liquor license for a new 39 story hotel at 701 7th Avenue (between 47th and 48th Streets), New York, New York 10036 (the "Premises"); and

WHEREAS, Marriott Hotel will operate the Hotel which will be called the New York Edition Times Square; and

WHEREAS, The Premises will operate as a hotel with three restaurants and a cabaret located over four floors; and

WHEREAS, The Cabaret will be located on the seventh floor with indoor seating of 135 at 35 tables and outdoor seating of 49 at 11 tables; and

WHEREAS, A casual dining restaurant will be on the ninth floor with indoor seating of 72 at 27 tables and outdoor seating of 260 at 50 tables; and

WHEREAS, The hotel lobby bar will be on the tenth floor with indoor seating of 50 and outdoor seating of 60; and

WHEREAS, A fine dining restaurant will be on the eleventh floor with indoor seating of 105 and outdoor seating of 60; and

WHEREAS, The seating total on the four floors consist of 828 at 100 inside tables, 92 outside tables and 6 bars with seats for 37 patrons with total square footage to be 11,285 square feet indoor and 8,625 outdoor; and

WHEREAS, The premises will have six patron bars and one service bar located on the 11th floor in back of house space, with one indoors at the cabaret seating 18 patrons, one indoors at the lobby bar seating 8 patrons, one indoors at the fine dining restaurant operating as a standing bar; and

WHEREAS, The casual dining restaurant will have two outdoor bars and one indoor bar seating 11 patrons in total; and

WHEREAS, Food preparation will occur in a fully-vented kitchen on the eighth floor; and

WHEREAS, The restaurants will serve international cuisine; and

WHEREAS, Applicant has agreed that Applicant shall:

a.         Operate the Premises with regular hours of operation daily from 6:00 AM to no later than 4:00AM seven days per week; and

b.         Design the audio system for the premises, particularly the terraces, to mitigate the acoustical impact to the surrounding community.  The goal of the system is to provide consistent background music and the sound system, except for the cabaret, are not intended for, nor capable of, producing sound decibel levels and low-end response found in performance based venues or nightclubs; and

c.         Agree to maintain the sound system at a volume conducive to restaurant patrons having conversations (background music), with volume controls strictly controlled by management with the exception of eight (8) major special event nights per year, with no more than two (2) of these occurring within the same calendar month, and if more special event nights are needed Applicant will come before Manhattan Community Board Five; and

d.         Private parties, outside promoters, live music and or a DJ shall only use the installed sound system designed by the operator and shall not install or use any other sound amplification systems or add standalone speakers to the outdoor deck/terrace or add any other freestanding amplified sound. Amplified sound maybe used both indoors and outdoors, as described in b and c; and

e.         Outside decks and terraces will be used primarily for seated dining with background music; and

f.          The existing outside speakers cannot be moved, redirected nor replaced, except as described in g; and

g.         Provide effective sound baffling or sound controlled environment for the outdoor terraces through landscape or other type of enclosures, as well as consider reducing the number of subwoofers on the ninth floor, and/or raising the glass barriers atop the cement walls on the terrace, wherever possible; and

h.         Keep all outside doors and windows closed (windows shall be of a type that cannot be opened); and

i.        Not utilize the sidewalk outside the Premises for any purpose at any time, including queueing, "velvet rope" or any other use not explicitly authorized with the exception of eight (8) major special event nights per year, with no more than two (2) of these occurring within the same calendar month, and if more special event nights are needed Applicant will come before CB5; and

j.        Not apply for a sidewalk café permit without prior review by CB5; and

k.         Not operate the Premises as a nightclub except for the 7th floor cabaret at select times; and

l.        Not serve a "bottomless brunch"; and

m.        Not offer bottle service aside from in the 7th floor cabaret; and

n.         Use best efforts to have patrons entering and leaving the Premises do so in a peaceful, quiet and respectful manner, discourage patrons from loitering outside the Premises, and use best efforts to keep the area outside the Premises clear at all times; and

o.         Use best efforts to maintain cleanliness of sidewalk in front of Premises; and

p.         Meet with neighbors and CB5 on a regular basis if requested and also provide a 24-hour hotline to Alex Novo (phone: 646-342-8855) representing the Operator, to immediately address any complaints from the community; and

q.         Strictly comply with and adhere to the method of operation described in this affidavit; and

r.        Applicant shall not make any change to the method of operation without prior review by CB5; and

s.          In the event any of these stipulations including but not limited to, sounding baffling and hours of operations, do not effectively address concerns and complaints of neighbors or residents, then the Applicant agrees to come back to the community board to address; and

WHEREAS, Should Scott C. Alper or Steven Witkoff ever contemplate a transfer of its interest in the operation at the Premises ("transfer" being deemed to include a change in control of an entity or the transfer of a majority interest in an entity), Applicant shall notify CB5 before such transfer is made and shall require any transferee to agree to the conditions and stipulations contained herein; and

WHEREAS, Should Scott C. Alper ever contemplate a transfer of his interest in Applicant ("transfer" being deemed to include a change in control of an entity or the transfer of a majority interest in an entity), notice shall be given to CB5 before such transfer is made and any transferee shall be required to agree to the conditions and stipulations contained herein; and

WHEREAS, No members of the public appeared or expressed concern regarding this application; and

WHEREAS, These agreements, stipulations and conditions will be incorporated into the Method of Operation as part of the liquor license alteration application submitted by Applicant to the New York State Liquor Authority, a copy of which shall be simultaneously submitted to CB5, therefore be it

RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends denial of the application by 701 Seventh Property Owner LLC for a new on-premises liquor license for a new 39 story hotel at 701 7th Avenue (between 47th and 48th Streets), New York, New York 10036, unless the above conditions are adhered to and are incorporated into the method of operation of the State Liquor Authority application.

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