We join area residents in applauding the tough stance being taken by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes regarding the two alleged perpetrators behind a New Years Day melee on 93rd Street, right outside the 93 Lounge.
Hynes has made it clear that he will accept no pleas from either Charles Amado or Andrea Jobity, who were indicted by a grand jury last week in the wake of the incident, in which Amado is alleged to have run deliberately into four people standing on the sidewalk with his car, seriously injuring two and crashing into eight parked cars. Then, Jobity reportedly climbed on top of Amado and drove the car, crashing into parked vehicles.
Amado has been charged with three counts of attempted murder in the second degree, four counts of assault in the first degree, vehicular assault in the first degree and driving while intoxicated (DWI). Jobity is charged with driving while intoxicated as a Class-E felony, since she was previously convicted of DWI.
It will be up to a jury to decide whether the two suspects indeed committed the actions they are charged with. In the meantime, residents are clamoring for 93 Lounge to be shut down, a cry that elected officials have echoed as they try to eliminate a venue widely perceived as a scourge on the neighborhood.
We hope that the State Liquor Authority, which grants liquor licenses to bars and restaurants around the state, listens closely to what they are told about the problems that this club has caused.
Unfortunately, the SLA did not listen when Community Board 10 recommended, before 93 Lounge opened, that the clubs liquor license not be granted, based on the fact that the location has been a problematic one in the neighborhood for years.
Subsequent activity outside the club has been less than salubrious. CB 10 reports numerous complaints from nearby residents about unruly groups outside 93 Lounge, and about the noise they generate. We can only hope that the most recent incident finally convinces the SLA to take action.
Such action cant come too soon.