Inwood's La Marina Loses Valet Parking, Report Says

INWOOD, NY — Troubled Inwood party spot La Marina is finding itself at odds with the city once again, this time over its controversial valet parking policy, according to reports.

The city Parks Department is shutting down the outdoor bar and restaurant's valet parking service, in which La Marina employees would park customer cars in public curbside spaces instead of a dedicated garage, the New York Post first reported.

A letter from the department to La Marina's owners said the business was "not authorized to provide, and in fact prohibited from providing, valet parking service," the Post reported. The letter was first transcribed by A Walk in The Park's Geoffrey Croft and sent to the Post.

The move to end La Marina's valet parking service comes after a multi-agency raid which resulted in multiple summonses being issued against the business by the NYPD, officials said earlier this month. More than 60 violations of the state liquor law were also recorded during the inspection, an NYPD spokesperson said. The State Liquor Authority is currently reviewing the violations.

The raid resulted in the city Health Department shuttering the business for unsanitary handling of food, evidence of mice and flies and improperly installed or maintained plumbing, according to city records.

The business tallied up 74 violation points, well over the 28 point cutoff needed to score a dreaded "C." The Health Department generally opts to close restaurants after an inspection if it deems a violation a "public health hazard" that can not be corrected before an inspection ends or for "serious and persistent violations," according to its grading methodology.

A Parks Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

Read the full New York Post article here.

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