David Hemphill (inset) says Spring Studios has dimmed the lights in its windows, which are widely visible from buildings around the Holland Tunnel rotary. Photos: Nathalie Rubens (Spring Studios); Carl Glassman (Hemphill)
With a hand over his heart and a humble look in his eye, David Hemphill, manager of the neighborhood newcomer Spring Studios, stood apologetically before Community Board 1 members and neighbors on March 12, assuring them that the behemoth 150,000 square foot operation he manages at 50 Varick will indeed behave.
The U.K.-based production studio and advertising agency has been in an awkward position following a Super Bowl party fiasco that pumped loud music onto the streets until 2:30 a.m. in early February, causing some of the board to reconsider its advisory approval of a liquor license, still pending before the State Liquor Authority.
Residents living near the facility also have complained of black town cars blocking traffic lanes, bright lights emanating from the building and loud delivery loading on Varick Street.
All this flies in the face of a long list of stringent stipulations agreed upon by both Spring Studios and CB1 representatives last spring. “We certainly didn’t do that for our health and have every intention of following everything to the letter,” Hemphill told CB1’s Tribeca Committee. Busy with Fashion Week last month, Hemphill was not at the February committee meeting when a Spring Studios representative was reprimanded for the late-night incident.
While some members remain peeved at Hemphill’s noted absence at the February meeting, the CB1 committee overall appeared to take the manager at his word, and agreed not to amend or rescind its support of the license. No more events, third party or private, are scheduled to take place until construction of the studios is finished, in July at the earliest, according to Hemphill.
Not everyone in the room was reassured by Hemphill’s promises that a liquor license for Spring Studios—and therefore full control of what goes on there—would mean neighborhood peace.
“Upon completion, all bets are off and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Paul Barenholtz, a resident overlooking the Holland Tunnel rotary across from Spring Studios who attended the meeting.
Others had come to support Spring Studios. One of them was Edgar Pereira of the Chinese-American Planning Council, located on St. John’s Lane, the alley directly behind Spring. Pereira noted that the alley used to be dirty and poorly lit. “Since they’ve moved in, we’ve seen a 180 degree turnaround” Pereira said. He thanked Spring Studios for sending crews to clean up the alleyway and donating planters as well as providing summer internship opportunities for their youth.
Hemphill tried to assure the committee that once construction is completed, noise from deliveries will no longer be a problem and traffic, during events, will be controlled by paid, off-duty uniformed police. In the meantime, he said, they have been dimming the lights in the huge windows.
Every event that has been part of Spring Studio’s “soft opening” has been a learning experience, the late-night Super Bowl party apparently being the most instructive of them all.
“It was a mistake and something that will not be repeated again,” he said.
“We appreciate that,” replied committee chair Peter Braus. “And trust it won't.”