Pompeii has taken to the streets in Throggs Neck with a new ad campaign, and again it may be in hot water.
This time, the lounge at 3133 E. Tremont Avenue received 26 separate violations issued by the Department of Sanitation for “Unlawful Placement of Handbills on Vehicles” for cars parked near two addresses, 3182 E. Tremont Avenue and 2755 Waterbury Avenue.
The summonses were issued in a one-day period, and could cost the bar about $2,000 in fines.
Senator Klein said that the summonsing was the result of the community and his office working together with the Department of Sanitation to address quality-of-life concerns.
“Leafleting is just another example of Pompeii’s continued disturbance in the community,” Klein said. “I’m pleased that by working together with the Department of Sanitation we were able to get some resolution to this matter.”
Along with other elected officials, Klein has been pushing greater scrutiny of the lounge after a shooting on the street near the club in April 2010 resulted in a off-duty police officer getting shot as he got out of his car to break-up a fight that alledgedly involved someone who had been in Pompeii.
The shooting occurred in the vicinity of the bar, and while the suspect was apprehended minutes later, it brought to light the club’s negative community impact.
Many concerned with fights around closing time, people having intercourse in parked cars around the block from the bar on LaSalle and Coddington avenues, and noise, since it opened in 2009.
“This fine is a significant punishment and I hope it sends a clear message to the management of this establishment that our community will leave no stone unturned when it comes to compliance with all laws,” Klein said. “My hope is that these violations, in addition to others issued by FDNY and DOB, will continue to push Pompeii and its owners to do the right thing.”
Since then, the FDNY and the Department of Buildings have also intervened, and most recently the DOB issued two Environmental Control Board fines to Pompeii for occupancy contrary to DOB records and operating without a Pllace of Assembly Permit on Friday, April 1, after a similar violation was issued on Sunday, March 20.
The Waterbury-LaSalle Community Association has vowed to put pressure on the nightclub unless it cleans up its act, and the organization will continue to remain vigilant until the business owners stop its patrons’ rowdy behavior,said WLCA president Tony Cannata.
Most recently, the arrest of four people outside the bar in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 6 sparked more concern.
“It seems like they have spent a lot of money to build that place, but the owners are still doing wrong and that needs to be looked into,” said Tony Cannata, president of the WLCA. “There are a lot of other bars in the neighborhood that serve a lot of people and don’t seem to have these kinds of problems.”
The organization is not trying to hurt Pompeii, but merely trying to get them to straighten out their act, Cannata said.
