Troubled Park Slope Bar Could Pay $12K And Keep Liquor License

PARK SLOPE, NY — A Park Slope bar that was in danger of losing its liquor license because of drunk and rowdy patrons could pay $12,000 to keep it, officials said.

The State Liquor Authority (SLA) ruled Wednesday that Woodland, a bar and restaurant at 242 Flatbush Ave., would retain its booze license if owners pony up the fine, the agency said.

The owners — who didn't show up at the SLA's meeting in Harlem — would have between two weeks to a month to pay if they agree to the fine amount, a spokeswoman for the agency said.

A manager at Woodland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Woodland has been a sore spot for Park Slope residents for years with complaints of noise, huge crowds, drunk driving and stumbling patrons urinating and vomiting in the street.

"They're so inebriated they don't know what they're doing," Community Board 6 member Pauline Blake said at a recent meeting about the spot. "They come into the neighborhood, they don't care where they park, they don't care about young people in the neighborhood."

The SLA started proceedings in January to strip Woodland of its liquor license after numerous incidents caused it to become "a focal point for police attention" last year, according to the agency.

The bar's license expired in February and owners filed for renewal, but state law allows places to stay open during disciplinary proceedings until they're resolved.

Officials from the agency scheduled a hearing last month, but canceled it after Woodland's owners proposed pleading no-contest and paying a $10,000 fine to the state, according to the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report.

The SLA's board accepted the plea on Wednesday, but raised the fine by $2,000. If they do pay, the charges will remain on the SLA's records which will make it easier to shut it down in the future, the agency said.

Woodland has been a thorn in some Park Sloper's sides since its owners first announced plans to take over the former Royal Video storefront in 2012.

Co-owner Akiva Ofshtein planned to turn it into a club, Prime 6, but that was met with resistance from residents when it advertised bottle service using scantily clad women, Brownstoner reported.

It later retooled to become a "farm-to-table" restaurant called Woodland, but residents said it quickly turned into a party spot with bottle service in the basement.

The local community board started a task force to address the bar's issues and voted against its liquor license renewal in March.

"Woodland has been an issue for a long time," board chair Sayar Lonial said in March. "We've done all we can, our voice is not being heard."

Despite the controversies and legal troubles of the owners, the spot became popular among local politicians like Mayor Bill de Blasio and Borough President Eric Adams to host fundraisers, DNAinfo reported.

Twin brothers Robert and Zhan Petrosyants, who were listed in court documents as having a financial stake in the bar with Ofshtein, pleaded guilty in 2014 to laundering money out of a Queens check-cashing business, according to federal prosecutors and DNAinfo.

Robert Petrosyants spent six months in prison after being convicted and Zhan Petrosyants was sentenced to five years probation, DNAinfo reported.

The owners have also faced financial problems with the bar and owe thousands of dollars in back taxes, court records show. They filed for bankruptcy in 2015, under the name Prime Six Inc., but it was thrown out in 2016, court records show.

They filed for bankruptcy again last year. No decision on that has yet been filed, according to court records.

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