Bar Veloce, an upscale bar in Narrowsburg, NY, has been ordered closed by the Town of Tusten following allegations that a fraudulent engineering report was submitted as part of its application for retroactive approval of a rooftop deck.
Liam Mayo, news editor for The River Reporter, has been covering the situation.
“There is a need for Bar Veloce to get retroactive approval for its rooftop bar. This goes back two around four years ago when Bar Veloce was looking to come into Narrowsburg. They got approval from the planning board to retrofit the first floor of the Narrowsburg Motors car dealership and auto repair shop into like this upscale bar. However, they did not get planning board approval for the roof.”
Despite lacking approval, the rooftop bar was constructed. “It was the planning board’s understanding back then, and it’s still the understanding now, that if anyone is to like go up there, if they are to open the rooftop bar for business, they would need to go back to the planning board for a permit. So that’s what they’ve been doing this year, looking to get that for that rooftop bar,” Mayo said.
As part of the approval process, Bar Veloce submitted an engineering report claiming the rooftop was structurally sound. According to Mayo, the report “is allegedly…from a professional engineer named James Anderson. In this report, this…‘James Anderson’ is saying that ‘I, as a professional engineer, verify that this rooftop bar is structurally sound.’”
However, questions arose after a neighboring business, the Narrowsburg Union, scrutinized the report and noticed errors. “One of the details they pointed out was the report cites the New York State building code of 2022 when there isn’t a 2022 building code. There’s a 2020 and a 2024, but not a 22,” Mayo said.
When contacted, the engineer named in the report denied involvement, writing in an email to the town:“By copy of this email I am writing to tell all parties that the letter / report reportedly authored by me is in fact fraudulent and not authored by me. I’m writing to inform you that I…take no responsibility for the determination of adequacy of the structure whatsoever. And then whoever produced this letter / report using my name and license number did so without my permission or knowledge.”
Following these revelations, the Town of Tusten acted quickly. Mayo explained, “The town…received [the engineer’s statement] on Tuesday, August 26th. The following day, they held an emergency town board meeting…[and] the town’s code enforcement officer revoked the business’s certificate of occupancy, essentially closing it until it gets its violations redressed.”
Mayo also highlighted ongoing tensions in Narrowsburg related to parking. “The Narrowsburg Union has questioned…whether there is enough parking in town and whether the town needs to do a parking survey to identify its needs. Over the past couple of years, there has been a lot of formerly disused businesses kind of springing back into life,” he said.
The legal and regulatory proceedings are still developing. Mayo noted, “We know…town supervisor Ben Johnson has said that the Narrowsburg Union filed an Article 78 challenge against the town in this case, which led to the emergency town board meeting…Aside from that, the town supervisor as well as parties on both sides have declined opportunities to comment.”
For more coverage, visit RiverReporter.com.
Note: The original live audio was edited for clarity due to a technical issue. The Narrowsburg Union is a Radio Catskill financial supporter.
Image: Bar Veloce in Narrowsburg, NY. (Credit: Liam Mayo/River Reporter)
Wow. I love that bar but this is disturbing.