Blog powered by Typepad
Member since 03/2004

« Three aldermen appointed to national committee | Main | Notification system makes spokesman's voice famous, sort of »

February 29, 2008


Mark Peterson

The Abbey lounge needs to clean up all the trash, garbage, and cigarette butts in front and on the side. They also need hold the noise down! Many of the neighbors with children complained that people leaving the bar have even urinated in their lawns, and thrown beer bottles in the streets, sidewalks and gardens. I am sure it was just a neighborhood bar when it initially received a license but now they have live music on Sunday nights too and it is not fair to the neighborhood.

Last September some college age young women moved into a top floor apartment above the abbey. Their parents were there for the move in day and helped them with all the large furniture. By the time the weekend was over, they were moving everything out again.

A neighbor asked them why and they said among other things that they could not even open their windows to get air because of all the smokers out front.

Shouldn't a bar like this be in a commercial district without apartments and homes surrounding it?

Mark Peterson is a liar.

Mark, As a regular of the abbey, I can surely say you are making stuff up. At any given time there are maybe 10 smokers outside of the abbey and if those people were really on the top floor, the smoke would have dissipated before it reached their windows. I think the bottles people are complaining about have nothing to do with the abbey lounge, but more the homeless that pretty much live in the park across the street. Get your facts straight.


Actually, 5-10 smokers, at one time, create a considerable amount of smoke. I don't know how many stories are in the Abbey building; however, I live on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a house, and when the neighbors (2-3 at a time) are outside smoking, and I'm on the third floor, the smoke definitely wafts up there.

Yet, when you live above/beside a bar, you've got to expect some smoke and noise.


Mark, it's too bad for the residents, that's all. There are certain things you should expect when living above a bar, and if you think you can't deal, then don't move there. It's like moving next to a freeway or train tracks, and then complaining about the noise and asking that the freeway/tracks be removed.

Ron Newman

Depends. What if you live next to a quiet restaurant or bar, and then the ownership changes and it becomes a loud disco?

That's not hypothetical. It actually happened to someone who lived next to what turned into the Aquarium restaurant on Holland Street. She had to move out of her condo for a while because the loud, live music came right through the party wall. Fortunately, the city eventually closed the Aquarium and it was replaced by the much more sedate Orleans.

Mark Peterson is a liar.

The Abbey has been a live music venue for many years, it's not like the change from the neighborhood bar was overnight. anyone who lives near it knows what it is.

Ron Newman

Kate - the Abbey Lounge is the first floor of a three-story building. (Thanks, Google StreetView.)


Ron: That's a tough break for the person who lived next to the Aquarium, but I still think you are taking this kind of risk when you live that close to a commercial district. The point is that things don't stay the same forever, and people shouldn't expect them to. So if you are going to invest in real estate, you have to weigh your risks. If you share a wall with a restaurant/bar/etc, then that's the risk (noise, rowdiness, etc) you take for living there. Now, if the zoning changes and a residential space turns commercial, that's a different story.


Thanks, Ron.


Will there be a repeat? The old Aquarium is now Orleans, and they added DJ's a year or so ago, and have recently had several live bands. I assume they still share the wall with the adjacent residences.

The comments to this entry are closed.

Most Recent Photos

  • Danehy_Park_Family_Day
  • Bloco
  • 3517a
  • Web_toon_7_21_10
  • Prospect hill
  • Web_toon_7_14_10
  • 3224a
  • Art1(2)
  • Art5
  • Art10(2)
  • Union_square_flood
  • Flood_pic_(bridge_1)