Chill Hookah Lounge Was Sold To a New Owner – The Truthiness of Tweets into Bay Ridge….
Why is news always like this in Bay Ridge?
Justin Brannan made a graphic to say that the owner of Chill Hookah Lounge surrendered his license. The truth is the owner sold the business, so he turned in the liquor license.
Andrew Gounardes followed Brannan’s lead on Twitter and tweeted the same thing (seen here), but Andrew says it took years of collective effort….”
Rather than welcoming the new owner, Senator Gounardes also took credit for the liquor license being surrendered. Gounardes is an attorney, so he knows liquor licenses are not transferable from an old owner to a new owner.
Chill Hookah Lounge was for sale for a long time. (See here) The business finally was sold to a new owner.
Chill’s liquor license was valid until October 2023, so they were able to fill out this form and get a refund for the unused portion of the license. Liquor licenses aren’t cheap (see here).
I spoke to the new owner when I called Chill today. When he answered the phone, I asked if he was a manager. He told me he was the new owner and he was surprised that politicians wrote that. Chill Hookah Lounge is only serving hookah – not liquor.
In the beginning of October, Brannan, Gounardes, Tannousis and Malliotakis wrote a letter to NYS to ask for Chill’s liquor license to be removed. There was gunshots fired outside of Chill last Fall. (More info) I called the owner back then and he told me that not one politician had contacted him.
At the end of October, despite the politician’s letter, Chill Hookah Lounge’s Liquor license was renewed for three years 10/27/21 – to 10/31/2023. (See here)
If you are following Bay Ridge’s history, you would know that area on 5th Avenue has some problems. In 2018, No Quarter Tavern was forced to closed due to gang violence. The owner tried hiring security and changing her establishment theme (pirates), but the same crowd kept coming back.(See here)
In February 2022, a young man was killed outside of Catrina’s on 3rd Avenue. (See here) Senator Gounardes said he was going to have Catrina’s license removed. (See here) Andrew sent a letter and nothing happened. If you have passed by Catrina’s recently, you would see Catrina’s is doing well.
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Hugs,
marlene
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