No Cabaret for New Rochelle Restaurant

Siete Ocho Siete will not be getting a cabaret license any time soon.

The New Rochelle City Council voted unanimously to not grant a special permit that would allow the Puerto Rican-food restaurant located on Pelham Road to operate as a cabaret in the heavily residential neighborhood.

Councilman Jared Rice, D-District 3, said he thought the parking plan and security issues had not been resolved to the council's satisfaction.

Counciman Barry Fertel, D-District 5, agreed, adding that the restaurant's owner had acted in "bad faith and with unclean hands" by operating a cabaret illegally before it had filed an application for the necessary special permit.

"That is something that has to be considered at least in this council member's mind," he said.

Mayor Noam Bramson and Councilwoman Shari Rackman, D-District 6, would have preferred to table the special permit legislation for two weeks to allow the owner to submit additional information or revise the application.

The special permit was the subject of a bifurcated public hearing during which many neighbors and patrons of the restaurant spoke of the problems surrounding the establishment—noisy customers, parking problems, litter, to name a few—and the benefits of having a Puerto Rican-themed place where food and drink could be enjoyed.

Bramson said the rejection of the current application does not prejudice the owner's ability to submit a new application in the future.

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