Thomas Hughes 
October 29, 2021—
Brooklyn, New York—It’s no beautiful day in the neighborhood for a group of residents in East Williamsburg who are feuding with a local bar. Feeling out of options, they have gone for the jugular of any nightlife establishment—the business’s liquor license.
A trio of Thames St. residents took turns during their community district board’s virtual meeting Oct. 12. , saying that the owners of Mika Bar at 25 Thames St. have been unresponsive to their repeated complaints about noise, public drinking, and unsanitary conditions outside.
“I have exhausted all other options,” said Heather Rush, who lives on the block. “I am asking the board to not renew their liquor license.” She said she had reached out to the owners but was not satisfied with their response. “They are not interested in addressing our concerns,” she said in a phone interview.
John Du opened Mika Bar with his wife, for whom the establishment is named, in 2020. Contacted by phone, Du said that he was not aware that the neighbors had gone to the board, and that they had not contacted him anytime recently about their complaints. He said when he has received complaints, he has sought to address them.
“We have gone overboard to communicate and do things the right way,” he said. Du said he had made it a policy to have someone check outside every hour for trash and monitor patrons’ behavior. He said for special events he hires a third-party security guard. The security guard said in a phone interview that he usually only works about twice a month at Mika Bar and that he often leaves before 10 p.m.
Du said it was unreasonable to hire full-time security, but agreed to station someone outside when larger events were held. Clients who hold an event have to sign paperwork abiding by certain noise restrictions, including not allowing a subwoofer outside, having the volume lowered each hour after 9 p.m., and shutting music off completely at midnight for outdoor party events.
The New York City noise code stipulates that music coming from any nightlife establishment between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. measure no louder than 42 decibels inside nearby apartments, and no more than 7 decibels above the ambient noise on the street. Du, Mika, and head bartender Jack Reynolds said they monitor decibel levels throughout events, including going out to the street and around the corner to measure ambient levels.
Sarah Epler, who also lives down the block from Mika Bar, said she had her own decibel monitor and that the levels had often exceeded the allowable mark in her apartment. “It feels like the party is in my living room,” she said. One of the breaking points for the neighbors was a performance by a brass band that they said went late into Sunday night on Sept. 26.
According to NYC OpenData, 48 complaints to 311 were received for 25 Thames St. between July 2020 and Oct. 27, 2021. Of those, 39 complaints were for loud music, while the others were for lack of compliance for reopening with COVID-19 restrictions and other compliance issues. But in 22 of the total complaints, responding NYPD officers reported not finding any violation evident at the time they responded.
Epler and Du said they went through the city’s recently established MEND mediation service. Both said the process was somewhat positive. Du said he made changes based on their hour-long discussion. Epler had a mixed reaction, saying some issues like trash outside had been handled better recently, but overall the process was not as successful as she had hoped. Ultimately, the changes were not enough to stop her from going to the community board. “I don’t think they understood how loud [outdoor events] would get,” she said.
Rush said her goal wasn’t to have the business close. She said she hoped the community board would make Mika Bar’s liquor license renewal contingent upon addressing the group’s complaints. A third neighbor of the bar, Charlotte Bell, said she wanted resolution from the board. “As long as these conditions continue, we will encourage others to attend board meetings,” she said.
