Bayside Residents Call For Lavoo Cafe Shutdown After Bloody Brawl

OAKLAND GARDENS, QUEENS — Neighbors of the Oakland Gardens nightclub where two men were shot and three slashed over the weekend, the latest in a series of violent brawls there, are petitioning their elected officials to do everything in their power to shut the place down.

The Change.org petition, addressed to state Sen. John Liu and state Assembly Member David Weprin, describes a history of assaults and disorderly conduct at Lavoo Cafe and calls on state officials to take away the nightclub's liquor license.

"The LAVOO Nightclub needs to be shut down, or at bare minimum, its liquor license needs to be revoked," the petition says. "This establishment was presented to the community as a 'lounge' but it has not operated as such. It is a full-blown nightclub that has no interest in the surrounding community."

A person who answered Lavoo's phone on Wednesday said the business declines to comment on the brawl and subsequent petition.

William Crowley, a spokesperon for the State Liquor Authority, said the agency opened an investigation into Lavoo immediately after the assault Saturday.

The incident unfolded just after 2 a.m. at the club, located in the back of a strip mall at Union Turnpike and Springfield Boulevard.

Two men were shot outside Lavoo and rushed to the hospital. Soon after, three men suspected of being involved in the fight showed up at another hospital with slash wounds, police said.

The NYPD hasn't arrested anyone, but the commanding officer of the local police precinct said he has all hands on deck.

"This is my number-one priority at this time," Capt. John Portalatin, who leads the NYPD's 111th precinct in Bayside, said Monday. "This is a very safe community and it's going to stay that way under my watch."

Lavoo Cafe has been the site of at least two other slashings since December, Portalatin told Patch.

The business has been open since at least 2017, state records show. Its liquor license is due to expire at the end of April, according to State Liquor Authority records.

"With a number of incidents at Lavoo Cafe in recent months, most notably last weekend, it is imperative we take a serious look at whether or not this establishment should have the right to operate in Queens with a liquor license," Assembly Member David Weprin said in response to the petition.