Board 1 Accepts Chuck E. Cheese Although Questions Arise

by richard gentilviso

Board 1 approved the license application, of Chuck E. Cheese, which will now be sent to the city Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), by a vote of 27 to one

Chuck E. Cheese, a nationwide chain of 354 restaurants serving food and drink to families celebrating birthdays, special occasions or just looking for an afternoon or evening of fun, has opened a new 12,000 square feet location at 48-18 Northern Blvd. However, unlike a McDonald’s or Burger King, Chuck E. Cheese is an eating and drinking establishment with accessory game use and accordingly, representatives from the corporate-owned restaurant, which is not a franchise, appeared during a public hearing of Community Board 1 at its May meeting to request an arcade license to operate 52 game machines at the new Chuck E. Cheese.

Board 1 approved the license application, which will now be sent to the city Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), by a vote of 27 to one, but not before several questions, particularly one concerning the contention by Chuck E. Cheese that the organization was advised by city agencies that an arcade license was not necessary for the chain to begin operation, were answered.

At the start of the public hearing, Board 1 Chairperson Vinicio Donato, noted the procedural discrepancy and Lee Balestier project manager for the new location, explained that because Chuck E. Cheese is primarily an eating and drinking establishment, a certificate of occupancy was issued by the Department of Buildings (DOB). Further, Balestier said, DCA (Consumer Affairs) first told them a game license wasn’t needed but then revised that position after they had opened. Balestier said another Chuck E. Cheese on Staten Island operates without an arcade license and attributed the startup without one to miscommunication.

Although the arcade license is for accessory use, Donato described 52 as "quite a few games". Bart Woods, a district manager for Chuck E. Cheese said 55 to 65 percent of their business was food and the games were there to "incorporate fun times". Chuck E. Cheese, Woods assured the board, was not a teen-age hangout and said family values are stressed. Woods noted restaurant policy was not to admit anyone under 18 unless they were with a family group.

Asked how Chuck E. Cheese ensures it doesn’t become a hangout, Woods replied, "We don’t let in anybody that we don’t want. We just don’t allow it". Woods said security measures are part of the restaurant’s design with assigned entrances and exits at the front separated by theater ropes. At busier times on the weekends, a staff member is assigned to monitor each entrance and exit.

An additional security measure described by Woods is the invisible hand stamp that each person in a party receives on entering Chuck E. Cheese. The stamp gives a number matching every child to an accompanying adult to make sure children leave with the same adults they came in with. Moreover, with hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday through Saturday, Woods, in response to concern about hangers-out or truants, said local police were encouraged to come and check the restaurant for truants or any other reason at any time. Chuck E. Cheese, he said, was a business, but one that would give and not just take from the community.

Board member Gerald Caliendo praised Chuck E. Cheese as a "great asset" for the neighborhood but said he was astounded that DCA would tell the chain’s representatives that no arcade license was needed since the law stipulated that exemptions were, he said "up to 20 but nothing over that." Caliendo expressed concern that accessory use as applied to 52 machines wasn’t fair to the rest of the community. In his opinion, he said, Chuck E. Cheese should have gone through a ULURP (Universal Land Use Review Process) to the Board of Standards and Appeals for a special permit for arcades.

Consumer Affairs Committee Chairperson Madeleine Gillis, however, noted that the unique concept of food and family entertainment found at Chuck E. Cheese was, she said, not really an arcade. An arcade is defined in the dictionary as an amusement center having coin-operated games. Woods indicated that the games for Chuck E. Cheese’s target market of children aged two to 10 years old were mostly different rides ranging from kiddie level to those for older kids. However, he said, only three of the 52 machines were considered video games.

Chuck E. Cheese does have a permit to serve beer and wine and board member and Environmental Committee Chair Joan Asselin, the only Board 1 member who voted against the arcade license, asked Woods "How can you mix children and liquor?" Woods said the decision to make Chuck E. Cheese a smoke-free environment necessitated leaving something for adults but believed the environment was still, in his words, "a warm, safe, friendly, atmosphere."

Gillis requested the board follow up on the status of the Chuck E. Cheese arcade license application with DCA.

In other business, Board 1 voted unanimously on a resolution to approve the construction of a youth hockey rink at 38th Street between 20th Road and 20th Avenue with the condition that the Astoria Youth Hockey League maintain the facility and control parking by it. Ana Kril, chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, made the recommendation to the board after the committee held a public hearing on the hockey rink Apr. 25th at J.H.S. 141.

Board 1 also voted a unanimous resolution to accept the Long Island City Special District rezoning plan by the Department of City Planning (DCP). After rejecting the DCP plan at its April meeting, Board 1 held a Zoning and Variance Committee meeting on May 9th and decided to let the plan go forward. As a result, Zoning Chair John Carusone made the recommendation and acknowledged DCP’s Penny Lee for "doing a wonderful job." Lee said she anticipates DCP will certify the plan by the end of May which means Board 1 could take a final vote on it in June.

District Manager George Delis in his report expressed concern about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s lack of information regarding a decision for a route to give subway access to LaGuardia airport. The MTA’s much criticized $17 billion capital plan won final approval in Albany on May 4th, clearing the way for the agency to start work on several projects, including engineering and planning for a Second Avenue subway line from 125th Street to the Whitehall station in Lower Manhattan, construction of a Long Island Rail Road link to Grand Central Station and subway access to LaGuardia Airport.

However, a May 5th report in the New York Times described the MTa’s plan as including "engineering work for an extension of the ‘N’ subway line to LaGuardia airport" as well. One year ago, on May 11, 1999, hundreds of Astoria residents and civic leaders as well as those from nearby neighborhoods, vehemently protested extension of the ‘N’ line down 31st Street during a scoping meeting on LaGuardia Airport subway access held by the MTA at I.S. 141. At that time, the MTA promised no final decision on a route for subway access to LaGuardia Airport had been made and afterwards, community advisory groups were formed to meet with and be kept informed by the MTA. According to Delis, the last such meeting with the MTA was eight months ago, last September.

SHAREing and CAREing is sponsoring a breast cancer screening, free of charge for uninsured individuals, age 40 and over. The screening will take place on May 31st from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Mt. Sinai Senior Care Center. If interested, call 777-5766 for an appointment.