Left: Residents of 52 Thomas Street express their objections to a liquor license for Tribeca Kitchen, the restaurant that the Gee Whiz owners want to open in the ground floor of their building. Right: Andy Koutsoudakis, co-owner of Gee Whiz, listens to the opponents of his application. Photos: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
Counted among the well-regarded and established Tribeca restaurateurs are the owners of Gee Whiz, the diner-style eatery at Greenwich and Warren streets. So Andy Koutsoudakis, co-owner of the 24-year-old restaurant, could only shake his head in disbelief last month after Community Board 1’s Tribeca Committee unanimously voted to deny a liquor license request to Tribeca Kitchen, the restaurant that the two Gee Whiz co-owners, their sons and a cook plan to open early next year at the corner of Church and Duane Streets.
“Sorry guys, I mean, it’s nothing personal,” committee chair Peter Braus told Koutsoudakis and his son Andreas, following the vote.
The committee found themselves choosing between the new restaurant, with a proposed 1 a.m. closing, and the co-op owners in the block-long building who say they fear noise from inside the restaurant and out, as well as cooking odors from what they maintain is an inadequate ventilation system. Residents in all 22 apartments signed a petition opposing the license.
The building’s residents, who did not want to be identified for this article, said they worried that their children would be kept awake.
“Our concerns lie with the sole fact that there are 22 children under 10 in this building,” a resident told the committee. “There’s really no soundproofing between commercial and retail units—we’ve had significant sound issues as a result, and also ventilation issues.”
The day after his defeat, Andy Koutsoudakis said he felt stung by the vote and wanted to come to an agreement with the residents.
“I love this neighborhood and I always try to be a good neighbor,” he said, standing outside his restaurant. “It hurt my feelings that they were so against it. No compromise. Give me something. Let’s sit down and talk and figure something out.”
The residents wanted it known that they, too, were willing to seek some common ground.
“We think it helps to start what should have been happening in the beginning,” said a second-floor resident who contacted the Trib the day after the committee vote. “A bunch of adults talking about a problem and figuring out a way to solve it.”
Koutsoudakis made concessions. He agreed to add insulation to the ceiling, to close an hour earlier, and to add a device to the smokestack that would largely eliminate odors.
Would that persuade the full Community Board to reverse the committee’s decision when it voted on Sept. 25?
A resident in the room that evening signaled his continued opposition. He said he was awaiting the results of a sound analysis that would determine whether the insulation would do the job.
The full board, like the committee, voted to reject the liquor license.
Undeterred, Koutsoudakis said he will now go the far easier route and apply for a beer and wine license. “I got to get moving. I got to build my place,” he said.
The second-floor resident said his neighbors are miffed about that. They expected the restaurant owners to keep working with them on potential noise issues before going for any license. “It gives everyone in the building a feeling that they don’t want to be good neighbors and work together,” he said.
But Koutsoudakis insists that it will all be resolved amicably.
“I told my neighbor, ‘In the end, I know you’re going to come downstairs with your kid and I’m going to serve you,’” he said, “‘and you’re going to be happy.’”