Shuttered 50's Lounge Owner: People Were Celebrating Juneteenth

NEW HAVEN, CT — Not long after the city’s Health Department arrived Friday to shut down Joy Monsanto’s 50’s Lounge restaurant, she sat in her car outside her Latin fusion eatery with a hot sun beaming, upset and frustrated as news reporters and police gathered nearby.

City officials said they received “numerous complaints about activity” at the 50 Fitch St. bar Friday. New Haven Director of Public Health Maritza Bond, Building Inspector Jim Turcio, and members of the New Haven Fire Department and New Haven Police Department went to investigate and said that 1,000 people were in the parking lot.

“It was a celebration, a Juneteenth celebration," Monsanto said.

“I first arrived on-site as part of the inspection conducted by the task force, and witnessed over one thousand patrons at this establishment in violation of the outdoor dining capacity guidelines, State rules for outdoor events, and various health codes,” Turcio said in a news release.

He claims they asked Monsanto to close and she refused.

“We spoke to the owners of this establishment and made a request that they shut down immediately, with which they did not comply, and we had no choice but to shut them down as a result of these violations,” he said.

Monsanto said she did close.

"Yes, there were people in the parking lot. I don’t own that lot. When they (city officials) came at 9:30, I closed down out of respect,” but she said that people did not leave the site’s large parking lot, indeed, she said, many people stayed until the wee hours.

“They forced me to close and I did out of respect. I’m allowed to be open until 11 but I closed and I lost that business.”

Officials, she said, “were running around arguing with people and taking pictures. This was people of color congregating, being peaceful, happy and just loving each other, Black and brown and Latino. No violence. And I was closed. I closed. I do not own the parking lot. This is a pattern of harassment.”

The city said her eatery violated “various state Sector Rules regulating outdoor dining and outdoor events, City Ordinances, and conditions of approval for the establishment issued by the Board of Zoning Appeals.”

Bond, who ordered the lounge shuttered for “numerous violations” also claimed that Monsanto refused to close.

“I want to remind residents of the city that we are still in a [coronavirus] pandemic,” Bond said in a statement. “Taking the necessary health precautions is critical to containing the spread of COVID-19, which continues to pose a serious threat to public health in our community. Nonetheless, this incident revealed this establishment was in clear violation of various health codes, and conditions of zoning approval, not just those related to the restrictions put in place due to the pandemic.”

Bond said Monsanto failed to “ensure that all attendees at a large outdoor public gathering at your establishment remained at least six feet apart, failing to ensure that said attendees were wearing masks except when dining, failing to demarcate six feet of spacing in the area of gathering.”

Monsanto said, “The health department stated that they were in the parking lot. On my side? Maybe 15 people were on my patio, which is allowed by law. Thirty percent. Inside, I could have 60 percent but not one customer wanted to come inside.”

Other violations include outdoor dining in excess of seating capacity and “creating a condition specifically declared to be a public nuisance,” city officials said, adding they will notify the state Department of Liquor Control.

Monsanto said that like all hospitality businesses, she’s suffered during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I closed on March 14 when the whole city was about to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day ... I had to cancel an order for $1,000 of corned beef. After, I didn’t even do takeout ... Now this.”

Monsanto has been in business since 2018 after a protracted battle with neighbors about her plans. She got zoning approval in 2017 to open her 128-seat restaurant in a below-street level site, walking distance from Southern Connecticut State University in the Westville neighborhood.

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