Uptown Board Rejects Liquor License At Notorious Arka Room Space

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Concerns about whether a checkered history of 311 calls and police visits would continue in the former Arka Room space led community board members to reject a new restaurant's liquor license application at the Broadway storefront this week.

Nearly all Community Board 12 members voted no Tuesday on supporting a liquor license for Kasa Criolla, which proposed opening a Dominican restaurant in the 4488 Broadway space where Arka Room, and later WaHi Oyster Bar, once stood.

At the center of the discussion was Kasa Criolla's potential ties to the former owner of Arka Room and WaHi Oyster Bar, who was the subject of dozens of liquor authority violations, police visits and hundreds of 311 complaints before closing the business in 2019.

"Anyone who lives in this area knows this has been a trouble spot for years," said David Friend, co-director of the Fort Tryon East Neighborhood Association. "It is clear there are connections between the current applicants and the previous owners."

Kasa Criolla Manager Angel Garcia insisted Tuesday that the new business would not have "anything to do" with the Akra or WaHi Oyster bar, which were both owned by Junior Lantigua.

"I’m not looking for trouble, I’m looking for an opportunity to do business," he said.

But at an earlier Licensing Committee meeting, Garcia said he's consulted with Lantigua about his new restaurant and is still paying off about $1 million to him for the space's lease assignment.

Kasa Criolla also took over Akra's Instagram account, Garcia said. The account has Kasa Criolla's logo labeled as part of WaHi Group, Lantigua's restaurant company.

Still, some board members said they were convinced Garcia should be given the chance to turn over a new leaf at the space. Before the full board meeting shot it down, the Licensing Committee had recommended supporting the liquor license application.

"Based on the hours they requested, I think this is not going to be a night club," Licensing Chair Isidro Medina told the board, noting that Garcia agreed to closing at midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. "If they don’t do what they’re supposed to do, we can shut them down."

But other members pointed out that the issues had not resolved since Kasa Criolla took over the space.

Officers with the 34th Precinct said they've still been getting 311 calls about double parking in front of the restaurant, even though it isn't open except to cook free meals for seniors and others in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

The precinct also had to pay a visit to the restaurant on New Year's Day, when they found more than 50 people partying in the back room with hookahs and "bottle girls," despite not having a liquor license, officers said.

"You have no liquor license for that spot, so there should not be private events going on in that space," an NYPD lieutenant said at the committee meeting. "That makes me wonder how many times that’s gone on before or how many times it’s gone on after that."

Garcia said he hadn't known the New Year's celebration had been an issue and that it had been a family party, originally suggested by Lantigua.

Ultimately, only eight of Community Board 12's members voted in favor of the liquor license. The final decision about the application rests with the State Liquor Authority.

In a statement to Patch after the vote, Garcia said he plans to move forward "in a way that establishes trust with the community." He will reveal more details of the plan to do so in a second round with the community board, Garcia added.

"We are a small, minority owned business that is simply trying to survive in an impossible business climate post covid-19 in one of the hardest hit areas," he said. "Right now we are working day and night to provide meals to seniors in our community and we’re looking at Kasa Criolla as a fresh start - an opportunity to create a thriving business that employs people in the districts and spurs economic development at a time when our neighborhood is going to need it most."

This story was updated June 18 with a statement from Angel Garcia.