Council Continues Liquor License Conditions on D'gala, La Famosa

After a contentious public hearing on Wednesday night, the City Council chose to continue liquor license restrictions on D'Gala Cafe.

Located on Commercial Avenue, D'Gala has come before the council several times before due to restrictions placed on its liquor license. Under the current conditions, the establishment must cut its music at 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 11 p.m. Sundays.

It must also have a New Brunswick Police Officer on duty from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The bar pays for the officer to be there during those hours.

A number of residents came before the council asking them to continue the restrictions on D'gala, claiming that the place operates like a nightclub in a residential area.

Detective Michael DeBonis of the New Brunswick Police Department said that since April 1, the police department has received 20 calls for service to the area during the bar's operating hours. In the months prior to that, police received 97 calls to service, 53 of which were noise complaints, DeBonis said.

A attorney for D'gala said DeBonis's report was not accurate, and claimed the calls were mostly coming from one person, many of which were not substanciated by the officer on duty.

A number of members of the surrounding neighborhood and the 2nd Ward Neighborhood Block Club showed up to ask the council to continue the restrictions, and a few residents said they lived nearby and did not have a problem with the establishment.

Ultimately, the council unanimously decided to continue the restrictions on D'gala's liquor license, which will remain in place for a year.

The council also voted to continue liquor license restrictions on The Tropicana, La Famosa, and Platinum Lounge, which runs Perle and Glo.

The owners of those establishments did not have any objections to the continuations of the conditions.