The Manhattan Times

Police shutter pool hall-turned night club

by Adam Garrett Clark

It turns out there was more than just eight-ball being played at what was supposed to be a family billiards hall on W. 207th Street.

The basement lounge and pool hall, Euro Latino on W. 207th Street near Nagle Avenue was shut down by the 34th Police Precinct on Fri., Dec. 11 after its investigation found that the venue was operating as an after-hours club and serving alcohol to minors, according to Deputy Inspector Andrew Capul. Several assaults and robberies inside and in front of the venue occurred in its short history, opening last March. Capul said the fact that many of the incidents were happening around five or six in the morning tipped the police off that the location was running an after-hours operation.

About a year ago the owners Robert Albert and Eduardo Torres appeared at several Community Board 12 meetings seeking support in its application for a liquor license. Capul, the commander of the 34th Precinct, was against it and the board was equally skeptical. It seemed unlikely that a billiards hall with plans for a dance floor could really become family friendly.

“I was against it from the beginning,” Capul said.

Albert, a restaurant owner across the bridge in Riverdale, claimed the community had nothing to worry about. “It was going to be an asset to the neighborhood,” Albert said over the phone in a recent interview.

He showed floor plans of what at the time was to be called Washington Heights Billiards that included a small dining area where food would be served and installed a metal detector and dozens of cameras to mitigate any misbehavior.

But “the restaurant lasted all of about a week,” Capul said.

The story is a familiar one, Capul said in his announcement of the closing at the 34th Precinct Community Council Meeting Wed., Dec. 16. Business owners will say whatever they have to in order to get the community’s support for a liquor license, he told the council, once they have it, everything changes.

The board did approve the license and in the spring the venue opened as Euro Latino, marketing itself – sexy posters and all – as a nightclub.

CB12 caught wind of the new direction of the business and passed a resolution recommending that the State Liquor Authority take a second look at the location.

“The establishment changed its method of operation to a lounge and has promulgated events such as an April 20, 2009 Pajama Party with exotic female and male dancers,” the resolution read.

Around that time, Albert claims to have had a falling out with his business partner Torres.

He sent a letter to the SLA shortly after that, absolving himself of responsibility in the changed direction of the venue, and lost complete control of the operation, he said.

“It’s bad enough that we’re going to probably lose our money,” he said, noting that he and his family invested $400,000 into the business. “I’m not going to lose my reputation, too.”

For his part, Torres, the current operating owner, claims the police’s charges against his establishment are unfounded. The fights happened outside his venue, he said, and he denies selling to minors or after hours.

In Torres’s eyes, the police crackdown is part of a concerted effort to destroy his business, orchestrated by his estranged business partner Albert.