The joke was on Jeff Gagnon as the Board of Zoning Appeals denied his proposal to reestablish the 1980s-era Jokers Wild comedy club on Wooster Street. The unfunny punch line was, as is often the case in New Haven, parking.
Gagnon and his partner Dominic Acquerulo, who own the building in which the now defunct Casa Nostra and DelMonico’s restaurants operated, were requesting a use variance to permit a 190-seat restaurant and comedy club. That would mean nearly doubling the number of patrons and creating a patio addition.
“We see a real opportunity here to draw people,” Gagnon said, “because, believe it or not, there isn’t a club devoted to comedy in New Haven.” He and his partners would be working, he said, with John Calish, who was the owner of Jokers Wild, on Crown Street, in the 1980s.
To meet zoning’s parking requirements on the crowded, well-restauranted block, Gagnon and company arranged for on-site parking to be augmented by 39 additional spaces in the commercial parking lot at 10 Olive St. He presented a nearly iron-clad agreement from the lot operator. So far so good.
Then his proposal allowed that all the parking, both at the club and on Olive, would be valet. That led Rick Elser, a BZA commissioner with some experience as a restaurant operator, to wonder if all the valet-assisted comings and goings would further tie up an already badly congested Wooster Street.
“But it’s not like a church,” countered BZA chair Cathy Weber. “It’s a comedy club. They’re not all going to leave at the same time.”
“Unless, of course, the act isn’t funny at all,” suggested a straight-faced commissioner.
Considerable discussion ensued as to whether the prospective Jokers Wild should be asked to dispense with the valet parking, or reduce the number of planned new seats. Elser suggested he would deny the request in any event, because of the parking as well as other concerns, such as possible post-midnight drinking. And he swayed his colleagues.
Gagnon, who is the construction side of the partnership in Jokers Wild, lamented the denial. He said New Haven was losing out on great acts coming to town such as Chris Rock.
While he left, not laughing, he appeared committed to talking to his partners about lowering the number of increased seats from 190. In his view, that is what upset the commissioners the most. “But it’s got to be more than what’s there,” he added. “Otherwise the numbers just won’t work for us.
There was some urgency too: Previous tenants, he said, had stiffed him and his partners, paying no rent for eight months and stealing some equipment. He said they planned to reapply in the coming month. The show must go on.