Showdown in the Slope Over New Restaurant Near Barclays Center

Park Slope residents railed against a new Manhattan-style restaurant and club near the Barclays Center on Monday in a conflict that may became more common once the arena opens.

The controversial restaurant, called Prime 6, was actually granted a liquor license weeks ago without any protest from the community, but the throngs of angry Slope residents who crowded a Community Board 6 meeting on Monday night in opposition to the license had no idea.

“When you tell us, the community, that this is a community restaurant you are really and truly insulting our intelligence,” said Pauline Blake, a committee member and resident of St. Marks Avenue, which abuts the restaurant.

The multi-story bar, eatery and lounge under construction in the former Royal Video storefront on Flatbush and Sixth avenues, was granted three liquor licenses on Feb. 16 by the State Liquor Authority. George Karp, the attorney for the restaurant, said that he notified Community Board 6 of the restaurant’s intentions back in November, but heard no objections.

On Jan. 18 Karp filed an application for the licenses, and was granted all three in record time – including one for an outdoor bar area that will seat up to 27 people.

“Our goal is to make a community place, to bring the community in to eat. I didn’t know that opening a bar on Flatbush would cause such a stir,” said owner Akiva Ofshtein, eliciting a wave of laughter from the crowd.

The restaurant, which is less than two blocks from the under-construction Barclays Center, plans to open in May in anticipation of arena crowds.

"To have a restaurant for the Atlantic Yards crowd is different than to have a restaurant for this community," said Hope Reichbach, a representative for Councilmember Stephen Levin, D-Brooklyn Heights.

Neighbors to Prime 6 particularly decried the restaurant’s plan to serve food until 4 a.m., seven days a week and called for any backyard space to be scrapped entirely.

“He really just needs to abandon the outdoor space. He may not be aware of the acoustics, but there is no way that it will not be loud,” said Paul Zumoff, a Bergen Street resident and area real estate broker. “I sympathize with how difficult it is to open a restaurant, but he doesn’t appear to be receptive to our concerns.”

Zumoff added that another noisy restaurant on the block, which already is home to another club- restaurant combo, Sugarcane, will surely diminish local property values and make it harder for brokers like himself to rent area apartments.

Ofshtein encouraged residents to “take a chance,” on his space, questioning why so many people had already formed such strong opinions of his still unopened eatery.

But residents were suspicious of the revelers who could flock to the space.

They pointed to MySpace and Facebook pages for the restaurant that boasted live music and bottle service. On the MySpace page, many of Prime 6’s 300 friends are sultry women in suggestive poses. The Facebook page for the space appears to have been removed.

Ofshtein, however, denied any involvement in either of the sites, saying that they were designed by an independent business. Though the exact details of the space are not yet worked out, he said it would either be a steakhouse or a “California kitchen.”

Community Board 6 will reconsider the matter in a month, after it first gives Ofshtein a chance to reconcile some of the community’s concerns.

It is unclear, however, what impact the community board can have now that the liquor licenses for the space have already been granted. Prime 6 will still need the Department of Buildings to sign off on the plans, which an increase in occupancy for a total occupancy of 230 people.

After the meeting, Ofshtein said he is willing to at least consider some of the suggestions from the community.

“The majority of the issues that arose tonight are new to me, so I’d like some time to think about them,” said Ofshtein.

“We came to this meeting with no idea there were these sentiments,” added Karp.