Residents Seek Quiet, Battle Loca Luna

Morningside residents gathered yesterday to do something about Loca Luna. The Amsterdam Avenue restaurant gets a lot of traffic due to its cocktails, Latin tapas, and live music, and the Midtown Patch reports that neighbors are angry about the noise and rule-breaking that go on.

After complaints escalated, Loca Luna owner Eric Kline organized a community meeting to identify "constructive solutions for neighborhood concerns." The complaints include the quantity and behavior of the business's patrons, the ensuing parking and traffic issues, and the apparent disregard of city law enforcement officers about the matters.

The Midtown Patch was banned from what a Loca Luna rep called a "closed meeting," but spoke to neighbors of the business afterward. They say that dance nights at Loca Luna last until 2:30 in the morning even as early in the week as Tuesday.

Noise complaints are to be expected in a community located near bars, but these residents aren't just being curmudgeonly about loud music and drunken yelling. Loca Luna customers are also defecating and urinating in people's yards, blocking ambulance access from Amsterdam Ave due to double-parking, and leaving their cars in fire lanes. One resident even said that that she feels like she has no rights and that the restaurant is ruining her quality of life. Businesses that share parking with Loca Luna are also unhappy. Urban Body Studios, a gym in the same complex, has more than double the space of Loca Luna but is only allowed half the capacity by the fire marshall.

The restaurant will hold another meeting within sixty days to propose a solution.
· Midtown Residents Blast Amsterdam Walk Clamor [Midtown Patch]
[Photo via Yelp]