Jacque's push to extend hours riles neighborhood

Bay Village residents oppose Cabaret closing at 2 a.m.

Henry Vara, owner of nightclub Jacque's Cabaret on Broadway St. in Bay Village, made waves earlier this month when he applied to extend Jacque's closing hours from midnight to 2 a.m. -- a change that many of the drag club's neighbors are staunchly against.

"We're trying to seek equality with all the other clubs in the area," Vara's attorney Ted Aleixo said. "It's a great financial hardship to have to close at twelve o'clock, especially on weekends, and watch our patrons go to other neighborhood bars because we have been denied a two o'clock closing license." Vara himself could not be reached for comment.

A July 2 opinion piece by Boston Herald writer Peter Gelzinis recorded the atmosphere at a recent public forum hosting Jacque's legal counsel, as well as more than 100 Bay Village residents, to explore public opinion of a later closing time for the club. Residents "rose with personal accounts of Jacque's patrons vomiting in their flower pots and urinating in between their parked cars," Gelzinis wrote, noting that the unruly behavior extended beyond Jacque's regular patronage to straight women who frequent the Cabaret's drag shows as part of bachelorette parties. The club employs a security guard and a managerial request on its website (www.jacques-cabaret.com) asking that patrons "please remember to keep the noise level down, and to be courteous and respectful to our neighbors upon arrival to and departure from the establishment. We are a good neighbor and we appreciate your cooperation."

Ten years ago, Jacque's Cabaret was denied the license to close at 2 a.m. because of similar complaints. "[The closing time] was reduced years ago for a reason, because of the late-night chaos and noise complaints," Captain Bernard O'Rourke of the District A1 police force said. Aleixo agreed, saying, "At that time, there was a lot of neighborhood opposition at the hearing before the licensing board."

Aleixo and his client believe that a later closing time would only serve to improve the community. "We think it would improve conditions, because that would allow us to hire a full-time police officer at the front door to monitor traffic and to eliminate any disruptions or noise outside the establishment," the attorney said.

O'Rourke, however, said it's just not that easy. "We have difficulty filling a lot of our own details that we presently have," he said, noting that Jacque's proposed closing time does not coincide well with shift changes and officer availability. "It's not a good response to deal with the problems with the club. ...It's not adequate in our eyes as a business plan, as a security plan."

The Captain said that police frequently receive calls from Bay Villagers with noise complaints against Jacque's patrons. "We get calls all the time," he said. O'Rourke said that they've increased patrols in the area after midnight "to try and get everybody out of there a little quicker. Just to ease the burden on the neighborhood."

According to Jen Lorizio, Council to the Boston Licensing Board, Jacque's Cabaret has formally applied for the time change and came before the Board for a hearing. "The Board requires anybody petitioning for such a change to meet with the neighborhood group in the community," Lorizio said. The Board deferred their vote at the time of the hearing, "allowing [representatives of Jacque's Cabaret] to go out and meet with the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, which they've done." Following the meeting, the Bay Village Neighborhood Association requested that a second hearing be held in the neighborhood, a matter that will come before the Board at next week's voting session.

O'Rourke, who said that the police force plans to continue devoting resources to that area on a regular basis, suggested that Jacque's Cabaret change venues to remedy the situation. "If you want to move your club two or three blocks down the street where there's no residences, that would be fine," he said. "This is clearly a highly residential area. ...That's my opinion on it. I'm pretty sure the neighbors all feel that way as well."

Aleixo noted that the majority of online comments left on the Herald's op-ed seem to be in favor of the club, "since Jacque's has been in the same location for over sixty years, in the same family. ...These people -- most if not all -- have moved there since Jacque's was in operation. So they should have known certainly that Jacque's was there and Jacque's plans to stay there."