Throughout the summer, community members protested a couple’s plans to open a 17,000-square-foot bar and shuffleboard club at 514 Union Street in Gowanus, essentially complaining the enterprise was a big irony magnet destined only to attract nocturnal throngs of Parliament smokers and an assortment of badly behaved hipsters to the neighborhood. Owners Ashley Albert and Jonathan Schnapp scaled down Royal Palms’ maximum occupancy, trimmed opening hours, and scrapped plans for a rooftop lounge; the pair won approval from Community Board 6 last night. “After lengthy debate,” reports DNAinfo, “the community board’s ‘yes’ vote was greeted with thunderous applause, then hugs and handshakes between the shuffleboard club backers and some of the neighbors who once fought against them.” Behold the true power of shuffleboard. [DNAinfo, Earlier]
