Fright on Franklin: Gunplay in Greenpoint

Gunshots echoed through Northern Greenpoint early Sunday morning, resulting in the hospitalization of a young African American woman, age 20, who sustained at least two gunshot wounds outside of a new club venue, The Production Lounge, on Franklin Street.
“There was all kinds of noise, and all of a sudden I heard six or ten gunshots, bullets,” said neighborhood resident Nick Sellitri, who lives on the block. “I opened my window and saw two cars scramble away quickly. It was around 2:30AM. The next morning there were cop cars all around. Now they’ve got cop cars here 24-hours, every day.”
The victim, whom DCPI did not identify by name, sustained a gunshot wound to the hip and a graze wound to the head. Immediately after the shooting she was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital. She was recently released, and is in stable condition. In all, 16 shots were fired at the scene, several of which blazed through the windows and door of the second floor apartment of 158 Franklin Street. No one inside the apartment was hurt.

No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, and it is unclear whether the incident started inside the Production Lounge or nearby. Regardless, according to several reviews and public forums, community residents are less than pleased with the addition of the Production Lounge to their neighborhood, and believe the shooting to be symptomatic of a larger problem. Since its opening just six months ago, community residents have mounted various complaints against the bar—to both the owners and the police—criticizing the venue for the lack of sound-proofing, poor crowd control and the failure to regulate unruly, rowdy and sometimes violent behavior of its patrons. According to several community members, the owners have either responded poorly to their complaints, or not all. Tuesday night’s 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting afforded frightened and angry community members an opportunity to voice their concerns, and demand answers from Deputy Inspector Fulton.
“These owners don’t give a damn about anybody in the neighborhood,” said Richard Divito, the building manager of 158 Franklin, after attempting to reason with the club’s owners. “It’s so loud I haven’t had a sound sleep since this place opened. And this shooting—it’s NOT something that happens in Greenpoint.”
The owner of a restaurant just one block from the Production Lounge explained that both his patrons and his employees are routinely harassed by clubgoers, and expressed concern that the venue is attracting an unsavory crowd that doesn’t belong in the neighborhood. A local bartender agreed, adding that “this is a community. What is this club doing here? It doesn’t fit. 99.9 per cent of people who go to Production Lounge aren’t from anywhere near the 11222 area code.”
More than 100 residents gathered at the meeting, the majority of whom expressed their desire to see the club shut down, and fast.
Despite the backlash, the owners of Production Lounge claim no responsibility for the shooting, and maintain that they are, for the most part, peaceful and respectful neighbors.
“The problem is, we don’t know why we have to defend ourselves. It didn’t happen here, it happened down the block. We didn’t do anything wrong,” said Joe Ariola, one of Production Lounge’s three owners. “We aren’t kids and we aren’t gangbangers, we are adults and we are victims here just as much as anyone else. At the end of the night, there were a couple of skirmishes, but nothing inside here to escalate to a shootout.”
“We don’t even have bouncers, how rough could it be in here?” Ariola added. “Honestly I’m more worried about what’s outside the bar. Sometimes I get nervous when I leave at night.”
Though Ariola claims complete innocence, the community thinks otherwise.
“We were all sleeping. I started hearing gunshots. My mistake was putting my head out the window, but I looked out and I saw what happened and they definitely came out of this bar,” Divito said. “There must have been an altercation inside, and they pushed this guy out of the bar’s side door on Kent Street. He went up to the corner and started firing. I didn’t see that, but I saw a group of youths walking backwards down Kent Street from Franklin, and these other people running to a car on 10th street. The girl got shot as she was getting into the car.”
“Day after, tried to talk to the owners but they were belligerent,” Divito continued. “If Joe says he doesn’t have anything to do with this he is lying. It’s on the surveillance tape! I saw them come out of this bar. They escorted him out, his friends came out the front and met him on the corner, which is where the shooting occurred. .. Joe can deny it all he wants but I’ve got witnesses and he can’t skirt around this.”
Regardless of blame, Fulton repeatedly reiterated the point that he is taking all necessary measures to make sure nothing like this ever happens again, and insists that Ariola and the other owners of Production Lounge will be held accountable for past and future actions. “This is a good community and I am in support of new business as long as it is a positive asset and not a negative, and this bar has been something of a negative,” Fulton said, calmly addressing the crowded room. “Rest assured that your statements aren’t going unheard. We will check up on these guys, and if they don’t comply, we’ll shut them down.”