Save Lavi Seks
Donation protected
Honestly, we've already written it all, but THANK YOU. Many updates to come!
Hi everyone.
As much as it hurts us to say this - we’re on the brink of shutting down.
This past Friday, within the first 45 minutes of opening the bar we were visited by a City official, and informed that we were in breach of a sound ordinance. In case you were unaware, these types of visits pretty much only occur when a complaint has been filed, if this breach happens twice you are then required to go to Provincial Court and pay a hugely expensive fine. The City takes this seriously, we take this seriously - we are in absolutely no way brushing this aside. We have every intention of working with the City throughout this process, in whatever way we can.
Unfortunately for us, this complaint wasn’t simply made because our music was overpowering, it was made as part of an effort to run us out of business, by none other than our next door neighbour - Dr.Kip McCarthy of Atlantic Dental.
For reference, Lavi Seks is under the same city zoning requirements as George Street. Meaning, the same rules to noise, operational hours, building permits etc… apply to us both. You may be wondering, why doesn’t the City impose these rules on the much louder George Street businesses? It’s because they require a formal complaint, like the one Dr.McCarthy has made, and now threatens to make over and over again regardless of what we do with our business.
Isn’t it particularly cruel to insist that a municipal officer pay a visit within the first hour of the bar opening on the very first day after a lockdown? Especially when businesses such as Lavi Seks are deeply struggling to get back on their feet? No less with an ultimatum stating “I will be contacting [by(sic)] law enforcement every time the noise can be heard from my bldg , day or night.” To clarify, his building is immediately next door - which is to say that he will be contacting law enforcement at every opportunity when the bar is operational. Regardless of what the noise levels are. Of course, this comes as no surprise given that Dr.Kip McCarthy has also denied one of our owners emergency dental care - without any real cause, and knowing the full scope of the situation, just because he wanted to go out of his way to be vindictive and petty.
Oh, and did we mention that our hours of operation, in no way overlap with his? This man isn’t even on the property when the bar is open.
Dr. McCarthy has stated that he will stop at nothing when it comes to harming our business - a direct quote, “this is not going away and only going to escalate”. And so unfortunately nothing we do will ever be enough to meet the requirements of this personal vendetta. He is especially furious because his rental unit, which has always shared a wall with Bar None, and whose downstairs neighbour was previously the Black Sheep Pub, will apparently be impacted by our noise disturbances and our noise disturbances alone. He is threatening legal action if his new tenants (who are moving in this week, and are as such perfectly aware of the businesses they are living on top of) choose to stop renting the property.
After dealing with enough thinly, and not so thinly veiled threats we have decided to take matters into our own hands.
And for this we need your help.
We need to soundproof Lavi to a degree where noise within the building cannot be heard outside the premises. All because Dr.Kip McCarthy has decided that he will report Lavi for even the tiniest infraction. We are now forced to meet criteria that no other bar on Water Street is required to adhere to - and solely because Mr.McCarthy has decided that this suits him best.
He’s basically decided that he will stop at nothing to bully us out of our space. But we’re choosing to fight back.
Financially, it will be difficult for us to absorb this. We’ve been closed for weeks now, and will now have to remain closed indefinitely. And so we are accepting any and all kinds of assistance. If you have some insulation lying around? We’d love to have it. If you have any experience in soundproofing spaces, please reach out. If you’re in a position to donate some money to our fund, please do so. And if you’re not in a position to contribute in any physical or monetary way, please share this to amplify our message.
We started Lavi because we wanted to create a safe space for everyone. We wanted to create a space where we could be creatively inspired, where we could listen to different genres of music, where we wouldn’t have to worry about fights, or unwanted advances, or homophobic policies. We made this place for our community, and we’re going to fight to keep it. And we’re certainly going to push back against entitled men like Dr. Kip McCarthy, who refused to work alongside us in coming to a solution because HE WAS INCONVENIENCED.
We do, however, want to speak to the amazing support that we’ve received through this. Firstly, we want to thank our incredible landlord Natasha for being supportive of all our efforts. We also want to thank the City’s Planning, Engineering and Regulatory Services for being so forthcoming in their communication with us. We have absolutely no issues with the city, their hands are as tied in this as ours.
And finally we want to thank you all. We couldn’t and we can’t do this without you. Regardless of what happens, we’re trying our very best and will continue to fight to do right by you all. This bar, and all of your contributions mean the world to us, and we’re not ready to lose you.
Just to ensure transparency as per GoFundMe guidelines please refer to the information below on how this fundraiser has been organized:
Who you are/ your relationship to the parties you're raising funds for: My name is Jovana Randjelovic, I'm part of the Lavi Seks team, and have been for a number of years. I am heading all the organizational communications for the bar throughout this fundraiser.
Where you're from: I am currently working remotely from Toronto (due to COVID-19 restrictions on provincial entry), but have been a resident of St.John's, and prior to COVID-19 split my time between the two cities which I will continue to do once I can safely do so.
How the funds will be used (be specific as possible): As per the the gofundme statement, these funds will be used to soundproof the Lavi Seks bar and the costs associated with this process. All spending of the funds will be documented and will be made readily available for all members of the public to review.
If you intend to withdraw the money, how you plan to send the funds to the parties you're raising money for or use the money on their behalf: The money will be withdrawn by one of the Lavi Seks business owners (Lavi Seks is an incorporated entity). As such it will go directly from the fundraiser to the recipient.
Hi everyone.
As much as it hurts us to say this - we’re on the brink of shutting down.
This past Friday, within the first 45 minutes of opening the bar we were visited by a City official, and informed that we were in breach of a sound ordinance. In case you were unaware, these types of visits pretty much only occur when a complaint has been filed, if this breach happens twice you are then required to go to Provincial Court and pay a hugely expensive fine. The City takes this seriously, we take this seriously - we are in absolutely no way brushing this aside. We have every intention of working with the City throughout this process, in whatever way we can.
Unfortunately for us, this complaint wasn’t simply made because our music was overpowering, it was made as part of an effort to run us out of business, by none other than our next door neighbour - Dr.Kip McCarthy of Atlantic Dental.
For reference, Lavi Seks is under the same city zoning requirements as George Street. Meaning, the same rules to noise, operational hours, building permits etc… apply to us both. You may be wondering, why doesn’t the City impose these rules on the much louder George Street businesses? It’s because they require a formal complaint, like the one Dr.McCarthy has made, and now threatens to make over and over again regardless of what we do with our business.
Isn’t it particularly cruel to insist that a municipal officer pay a visit within the first hour of the bar opening on the very first day after a lockdown? Especially when businesses such as Lavi Seks are deeply struggling to get back on their feet? No less with an ultimatum stating “I will be contacting [by(sic)] law enforcement every time the noise can be heard from my bldg , day or night.” To clarify, his building is immediately next door - which is to say that he will be contacting law enforcement at every opportunity when the bar is operational. Regardless of what the noise levels are. Of course, this comes as no surprise given that Dr.Kip McCarthy has also denied one of our owners emergency dental care - without any real cause, and knowing the full scope of the situation, just because he wanted to go out of his way to be vindictive and petty.
Oh, and did we mention that our hours of operation, in no way overlap with his? This man isn’t even on the property when the bar is open.
Dr. McCarthy has stated that he will stop at nothing when it comes to harming our business - a direct quote, “this is not going away and only going to escalate”. And so unfortunately nothing we do will ever be enough to meet the requirements of this personal vendetta. He is especially furious because his rental unit, which has always shared a wall with Bar None, and whose downstairs neighbour was previously the Black Sheep Pub, will apparently be impacted by our noise disturbances and our noise disturbances alone. He is threatening legal action if his new tenants (who are moving in this week, and are as such perfectly aware of the businesses they are living on top of) choose to stop renting the property.
After dealing with enough thinly, and not so thinly veiled threats we have decided to take matters into our own hands.
And for this we need your help.
We need to soundproof Lavi to a degree where noise within the building cannot be heard outside the premises. All because Dr.Kip McCarthy has decided that he will report Lavi for even the tiniest infraction. We are now forced to meet criteria that no other bar on Water Street is required to adhere to - and solely because Mr.McCarthy has decided that this suits him best.
He’s basically decided that he will stop at nothing to bully us out of our space. But we’re choosing to fight back.
Financially, it will be difficult for us to absorb this. We’ve been closed for weeks now, and will now have to remain closed indefinitely. And so we are accepting any and all kinds of assistance. If you have some insulation lying around? We’d love to have it. If you have any experience in soundproofing spaces, please reach out. If you’re in a position to donate some money to our fund, please do so. And if you’re not in a position to contribute in any physical or monetary way, please share this to amplify our message.
We started Lavi because we wanted to create a safe space for everyone. We wanted to create a space where we could be creatively inspired, where we could listen to different genres of music, where we wouldn’t have to worry about fights, or unwanted advances, or homophobic policies. We made this place for our community, and we’re going to fight to keep it. And we’re certainly going to push back against entitled men like Dr. Kip McCarthy, who refused to work alongside us in coming to a solution because HE WAS INCONVENIENCED.
We do, however, want to speak to the amazing support that we’ve received through this. Firstly, we want to thank our incredible landlord Natasha for being supportive of all our efforts. We also want to thank the City’s Planning, Engineering and Regulatory Services for being so forthcoming in their communication with us. We have absolutely no issues with the city, their hands are as tied in this as ours.
And finally we want to thank you all. We couldn’t and we can’t do this without you. Regardless of what happens, we’re trying our very best and will continue to fight to do right by you all. This bar, and all of your contributions mean the world to us, and we’re not ready to lose you.
Just to ensure transparency as per GoFundMe guidelines please refer to the information below on how this fundraiser has been organized:
Who you are/ your relationship to the parties you're raising funds for: My name is Jovana Randjelovic, I'm part of the Lavi Seks team, and have been for a number of years. I am heading all the organizational communications for the bar throughout this fundraiser.
Where you're from: I am currently working remotely from Toronto (due to COVID-19 restrictions on provincial entry), but have been a resident of St.John's, and prior to COVID-19 split my time between the two cities which I will continue to do once I can safely do so.
How the funds will be used (be specific as possible): As per the the gofundme statement, these funds will be used to soundproof the Lavi Seks bar and the costs associated with this process. All spending of the funds will be documented and will be made readily available for all members of the public to review.
If you intend to withdraw the money, how you plan to send the funds to the parties you're raising money for or use the money on their behalf: The money will be withdrawn by one of the Lavi Seks business owners (Lavi Seks is an incorporated entity). As such it will go directly from the fundraiser to the recipient.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jovana Randjelovic
Organizer
St. John's, NL
Shauna Gilpin
Beneficiary