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The husband and wife team that videotaped and photographed customers entering and leaving the gay Latino party Fuego earlier this year filed a protest against the liquor license of the Capitol Hill gay bar Remington’s last November.
The city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration dismissed the protest in May after it discovered that Mark and Christina Parascandola moved out of their Capitol Hill townhouse on the 600 block of D Street, SE, ending their legal standing to file a protest against Remington’s.
Remington’s is located at 639 Pennsylvania Ave., SE. The back of the Remington’s building abuts an alley and faces the rear of the Parascandola’s townhouse on D Street, which the couple now rents to tenants in two apartments.
Shortly after filing their protest against Remington’s, the Parascandolas moved to another townhouse on the 2000 block of 15th Street, NW, which is located less than a block from Cada Vez, the restaurant and lounge that plays host to the Saturday night Fuego party.
Jeff Coudriet, director of operations for ABRA, said the Parascandolas did not notify ABRA of their change of address. He said city law requires citizens protesting liquor licenses to be legal residents of the area in which an establishment applying for a liquor license is located.
Supporters of the Fuego event said their discovery that Mark and Christina Parascandola initiated a license protest against Remington’s less than a year before the couple joined a group that is now protesting the Cada Vez license, on grounds of noise and neighborhood disturbances, suggests that the Parascandolas may be targeting gay oriented-businesses.
“I think it’s kind of interesting that the two places they are going after have a gay clientele,” said Charles Zhou, manager of Cada Vez.
The Parascandolas did not return phone calls seeking comment on their Remington’s protest. Last month, Mark Parascandola said he and his wife conducted the videotaping and photographing of customers entering and leaving the Fuego party in June and July in an effort to document possible liquor law violations.
He said he and his wife did not intend to offend the mostly gay Latino patrons of the event. However, Zhou said many of the patrons viewed the videotaping and photographing as a form of intimidation.
The Parascandolas discontinued their videotaping and photographing in recent weeks. But two weeks ago, gay neighborhood activist Elwyn Ferris, the domestic partner of Dupont Circle ANC Commissioner Ramon Estrada, resumed the photographing of Fuego customers. Estrada is one of the lead opponents of the Cada Vez license renewal on the ANC and helped push through an ANC resolution opposing the license.
Ferris and Estrada did not return calls by press time this week. Last month, Estrada said the videotaping and photographing was aimed at documenting the size of the crowds entering and leaving Cada Vez to determine the establishment’s capability of “crowd management.” He said the intent was not to identify individual patrons of the clubs.
Zhou and gay nightlife advocate Mark Lee dispute this explanation, saying they witnessed people videotaping and photographing patrons from distances of 10 feet or less.
Zhou and Remington’s owner Steven Smith also dispute claims by the Parascandolas and others that their establishments create noise that disturbs nearby residents.
In a Nov. 23, 2004 letter to the ABC Board declaring their protest against Remington’s, the Parascandolas charge that Remington’s “plays loud dance music late at night, which can be heard in nearby residences.” The letter states that the Remington’s owner and employees “have been unresponsive to our numerous requests to address the noise problem and our attempts to work with them to achieve a resolution.”
Smith said he responded quickly when the Parascandolas first complained about noise from Remington’s in 2002 by upgrading the soundproofing materials in his building and by redirecting the position of his speaker system. Although he believed the noise at that time was within the decibel limit allowed under city law, Smith said he was happy to make changes in the spirit of neighborhood cooperation by eliminating the noise problem.
According to Smith, the Parascandolas continued to complain about noise, calling police repeatedly and calling him and members of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B late into the night. ANC 6B has jurisdiction over Remington’s. On one occasion, Smith said, Mrs. Parascandola showed up at his home after midnight to complain about noise from Remington’s.
He said police found no evidence of any noise coming from Remington’s during each of their visits in ...
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