It has been really fun and exciting lately to blog about some of the recent openings happening in Harlem, such as The Corner Social, Harlem Food Bar and Frederick Cafe Bistro. All these places have opened with such positive fanfare and the management behind these establishments are a delight to work with. However, there is one dining establishment on Frederick Douglass Blvd that is getting ready to open and I am finding it difficult to rave about. I am contemplating not evening dining there. Why? You may or may not know that there’s been an ongoing conflict between the owner of Jado Sushi, which is located in The Douglass Condo retail space (2118 FDB), and the owner of Land Yoga, which has been established in The Douglass for almost a year now and is Jado’s neighbor to the right.
According to online reports, Land Yoga in Harlem has been respectfully asking Jado Sushi, which is owned by the same person who owns The Winery on 116th Street, to kindly sound proof the restaurant so that it does not affect the environment of the yoga studio. Those multiple requests to Jado Sushi have been ignored to date, according to Land Yoga. HarlemGal Inc contacted The Winery asking for comment about Land Yoga’s request to sound proof and they did not respond.
Another reason I am blogging about this now is ’cause multiple readers have asked, why have you not mentioned anything about Jado Sushi in Harlem on your blog? Well, this is why. I am aware of the conflict going on between Jado and Land Yoga in Harlem.
For conversation sake, I have even asked Harlem business owner(s) about this and most have informally commented it is the responsibility of Jado Sushi to sound proof the place since they are coming into a retail area that has already been established, apartments above the Jado space will more than likely complain about the noise below so it’s best to sound proof now rather than later and its the politically correct thing to do. Most of the businesses on FDB support each other. Yesterday, I read that the owner of Melba’s stopped by Harlem Food Bar recently to show her support. That’s classy!
Personally, I am not clear on why Jado Sushi would not want to sound proof the place now versus wait until later like when more 
complaints potentially come in or this get’s escalated into a potential legal matter. Then again, maybe it’s not Jado’s responsibility to sound proof their place or is it? Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject? Should Jado Sushi in Harlem sound proof its place to accommodate Land Yoga?
And as for dining at Jado Sushi, at the moment I don’t want to even think about going there when it opens knowing this conflict is nowhere near a resolution and that I might be interrupting someone’s yoga practice-if Jado is not sound proofed. It doesn’t feel right as a long time practicing yogi. That’s another reason why I can’t get excited about this place and starting to believe that Jado Sushi just might be starting off in Harlem on the wrong foot leading to an uneventful opening.
HarlemGal Inc. 
Before you make any assumptions in this battle, you may want to explore a bit further. I live in the Douglass Condos above Land Yoga and Jado Sushi, and the owner of Land Yoga has awakened the entire building by hammering in her studio at midnight! We suggest more cooperation from all concerned!
@FDB Girl. Thanks for commenting. And sorry to hear about the late night banging. By chance did you or your board talk to Land Yoga about the hammering? What kind of response did you receive? And I agree with you on full cooperation on both sides. However, that can’t be achieved if one side doesn’t want to come to the table to try and resolve. My understanding is that Jado has completely thumbed their nose at the request!
It is the responsibility of the renter/lease holder to soundproof not the building. that being said, the only reason to sound proof is if jado sushi plans on hosting loud parties, having a DJ, or making music a part of their theme. If what we are talking about is just “noise” made by patrons dining – then land yoga might be asking for a bit much. Do other restaurants sound proof? Dance Studios do. So maybe land yoga should have anticipated this being an issue….It’s not fair to single out an establishment because of what it is next to, the landlord usually makes a recommendation before construction begins and it seems like they couldve been involved in the final decision early on. Spind proofing isn’t cheap, in the end Jado and Landlord need to split the cost since land is already established and they can move and squash this….
How exactly do you soundproof a restaurant?? Methinks Land Yoga doth protest too much.
I agree with the other commenters. What type of noise does Land Yoga anticipate that would require soundproofing? Also, Land Yoga, being an establishment that requires a quiet environment to conduct its business should have had added a clause about this to their lease if it is critical. Why should Jado pay the expense for this when Land when it is a requirement specific to the business of Land?
Unless Jado Sushi will be having loud music it is not normal practice for restaurants to soundproof. For Land Yoga to expect dead silence from neighboring retail establishments is unrealistic at best (and should have been part of any lease agreement if critical for business). As long as Jado Sushi’s noise level falls within city-established limits (42 decibels or 7 decibels above ambient noise 10p-7a) then any remaining noise issues are between Land Yoga and the landlord.
But aren’t there requirements for restaurant licensing about what level of noise is permitted that would then require soundproofing if in residential building (whose tenants/owners I would expect to have rights to demand certain expectations of noise management)? Seems the owner, Jado, and Land should discuss.
I’d be more worried about the smell though.
As an owner of a unit in the condo above Jado and Land, let me say that Nobu who owns Jado has been very accommodating to our condo residents, installing appropriate fans and meeting with us to make sure to establish a good relationship. I suspect that any hubbub caused by this noise issue was initiated by the owner of Land Yoga whose owner has proven to be more contentious.
@FDB Girl. Thanks again for commenting and joining in on the discussion. Much appreciated.
While one owner may have approached the matter differently than the other, the fact still remains that Jado Sushi has refused to even work with Land Yoga on their request. I find it perplexing that Jado Sushi owner will work directly with your building, The Douglass, which you have brought to light, but will not work directly with his neighbor to the right, Land Yoga. That’s sounds off? Two businesses cannot work out their differences if Jado Sushi refuses to show up at agreed meetings, which has been rumored to have happened as recently as this past week. Also, this issue was similar in the Gateway Building with the former Society Cafe. After months or maybe even years, Society Cafe alledgedly had to sound proof their establishment after complaints of the noise from their place. And The Douglass building wasted no time in complaining about Questan’s and the noise.
At this point, Jado Sushi will more than likely move forward to open without wanting to sound proof his space. We’ll just have to wait and see about the noise. This could all be a moot point when they open. The place could [or will work hard to] meet the city requirements on noise levels. And if there is one smidgen of a complaint about Jado Sushi and noise from a local, Land Yoga will be in a position to say “hmmm…interesting…a noise complaint?”
Shouldnt be a problem if Land Yoga pays for the installation of the sound proofing. Otherwise, it’s up to the owner to dictate under the terms of the lease what Jado has to do or doesnt have to do.
I feel that as a owner of the building he should have a clause in there lease stating if you are going to be a restaurant with music of any kind you should sound proof reguardless. and Dam its too many of this new place popping up in Harlem to close and too dam fast.
I agree with FDB Girl – more info is needed before one jumps to a conclusion about this situation. The owner of Jado has been an active member of the South Harlem community for years now. The Winery (his other place) supports local community organizations, Studio Museum, and local artists. Perhaps it’s the responsibility of the yoga studio to be soundproofed – sounds a bit backward for another business to have to take care of that.
It would be nice if both of these business would turn to their Harlem peers and find out what they did regarding noise issues, whether it be two battling business owners or business owner and a resident, and use it as guidance to try and work out their differences. This can’t be the first time this issue has come up in Harlem. Noise is like the third neighbor.
I find this conversation perplexing. It appears that when I google to find out about the place this blog comes up. What you are doing to a long established businessman as he owns the winery is appalling. It is a wonder why people do not trust people who “report” on anything anymore. It appears based on someone who lives in the condo that you are missing a great deal of facts. Remember it is not on Land Yoga to make requests of Jado Sushi, it is up to the landlord to ask them to follow the lease they signed. I assume that the Sponsor probably still owns the commercial space there and they are ultimately responsible. I think your judgment is clouded by the fact that as you stated you are a person who does Yoga and my guess is you go there and therefore are biased in not only how you wrote this blog entry, but also in how you responded to those who actually brought out issues with the owner of land yoga.
I wonder how your article would have read if you were a sushi lover and hated yoga. Would it have been EVICT LAND YOGA FOR MAKING UNREASONABLE SOUNDPROOFING REQUEST.
There is nothing in the press to make it appear that they are starting off on the wrong foot. It is quite the opposite as everyone that I have spoken to is so excited for what they hope will be a great sushi restaurant.
And to further complicate the matter since they did not know what sort of tenants would come into the commercial spaces why did they not soundproof their own space just in case. I could tell you why and it is MONEY. They want others to spend money in order for them to have no issues.
What you have just done is clearly irresponsibly and I would hope that you retract this entry or at least change the title as it is so misleading.
@Michael thank you for your constructive comments. Much appreciated.
Let me first point out that as the editor of this blog and with most blogs, comments are moderated. I operate no differently than any other Harlem blogs. Comments are at the discreation of the editor/editors.
Second, I reached out equally to both businesses alerting them I was going to blog about this topic. One business responded to my request, the other chose not to respond. If I was choosing one business over the other, I could have not contacted either business.
Third, to address that I am biased about Jado Sushi, is false. In my view I broke the initial story that a sushi place is coming to Harlem. Review my blog for the facts, its dated when I post, and google it more if preferred. And to further show i am not biased, I am open to posting an official/professional statement from Jado Sushi on this topc on my blog post.
And last, I do like sushi very much and there is no question about it, I am a devout yogi, who practices the ancient art every time I can. I disclosed that first hand.
Thank you for your post, Michael. My point, as a condo owner in the Douglass condos was not to discourage anyone from visiting Land Yoga, Jado Sushi, or the wonderful Franz-James flower shop in our retail space. In fact, we love and welcome them all. I just felt HarlemGal’s original post, particularly the headline, would bring an unwarranted bad rap to a business owner who has long supported Harlem and has made every attempt to be a good neighbor to our building’s residents.
@HarlemGal I do appreciate this is a blog moderated by you. I also understand that you may have been the first to bring attention to the sushi restaurant and that is what this should be about. Why should Jado come to you with a statement for something that really sounds as if it should be determined by the landlord and not by a potentially unhappy tenant. To me it appears that you were moved by a conflict that may or may not occur in terms of the noise from the restaurant after it opens. I have to tell you that when Land Yoga they had this humongous grand opening with a radio station blasting music. I live down the block and heard it. Where was there concern then? Of course there was none because they are a business out to get clients to make money.
Respectfully this was a onesided blog telling people not to frequent a new restaurant just in case there was noise that may have an affect on the Yoga space.
And as someone else pointed out I have never heard of a restaurant required to soundproof for normal operations as the space should have been built out to deal with normal sounds as I am sure that is all that is in the Yoga space.
I do hope it all gets resolved if necessary but really is not for us to not go to a neighborhood restaurant because of soundproofing which I will guess the landlord did not ask them to install.
@Michael I mentioned the statement offering to demonstrate I am not biased toward any Harlem business. Any business is entitled to ignore my requests asking them to comment. No business has to get back to a blogger, however in this new environment of social networking, most businesses now work with bloggers because they want to be at the table when there is any kind of discussion about their business. It’s good PR management and good business leadership too.
As for sound proofing between the two entities, like you, I do hope it gets resolved and soon.
I do understand, however as FDB Girl stated you are potentially causing an unwarranted bad rap on a business not yet opened. You are correct in this day and age with blogs, twitter, facebook, etc, it is a big PR mistep not to address a situation when presented with the opportunity, however stating that you are concerned about sitting in a restaurant when it may disturb the people practicing yoga is a bit of a stretch.
My whole point was that if they are so concerned about noise is it because they know the walls are way to thin and instead of addressing it themselves they want the other tenant to spend the money? A regular restaurant with no live band does not have that loud of a presence especially since this is not an open space such as bier international. So now we are discussing what right Land Yoga has to demand that another tenant be responsible for soundproofing when they have never done any on their own.
I do understand the need for quiet while doing yoga and therefore it raises the question as to why on Day 1 when they were building out the space they did not pay to have their place soundproofed so that they never would be affected by any tenant that may move in around them. I would ask that you raise that issue with them and see what type of answer you get because ultimately they should have protected their space prior to asking others to do it for them.
Remember the business with one of the largest upfront costs and failure rates is a restaurant. Negative press that may not even have all the facts is just not helpful.
You could have put the facts out there as an update without the title of your blog post making it appear that they have done something to the community as a whole.
@michael readers, like yourself, have spoken about the sound proofing issue between Jado Sushi and Land Yoga and provided another voice/view for the online community to consider regarding my recent blog post. It is duly noted here in the comments section. Thanks again for the constructive comments.
Shouldn’t both businesses work on the sound proofing issue from their respective spaces for their clients and the tenants of the building? I like quiet when practicing yoga, but never lived above a restaurant, so I can imagine the noise level during meal times especially when you come home and want some peace. Can’t they compromise?
It’s the burden of the person or entity making the noise to soundproof against it. Just like you are not meant to soundproof against the noise of a restaurant below you, but they must protect you from the noise level at meal times which is very loud especially over any music and with alcohol.
If that’s the case then I agree, inebriation will attribute greatly to the noise level.
I’m sure the patrons of Jado Sushi, hepped up on raw fish and a nice Sancerre will disturb the otherwise quiet milieu of FDB at 114th Street. The booming car stereos, screaming crackheads, dirt bikes, and public urinators will never be able to compete with the utter chaos created by a gang of toro addicts.
@FDB Girl you are completely accurate in your assessment. And not to mention most of the restaurants that have opened have done sidewalk tables as part of their appeal, soundproof against that.
I for one can not wait to eat my sushi and see if I am able to compete with the rest of the noise in the neighborhood.
I also forgot to ask the most important question @harlemgal could you please let me know what all the rest of the recently owned restaurants have done to soundproof their spaces and please include Londel’s lounge in your comments as I could guarantee you that on the nights of certain live music the noise travels into the building. I just realized that in the beginning you talk about a delight the owners of the other new establishments are to work with, my question is did any other tenants try to force them to soundproof if it was not required? The more I read this the more I question the accuracy of your assessment.
This is a sushi restaurant, not a bar. I have never seen a rowdy traditional sushi restaurant which I believe the goal is here. So even if people are drinking saki or beer it is in moderation and are not getting loud.
this is my great issue with this whole conversation as the landlord dictates based on the tenant what needs to get done. This conversation has been done with another tenant wanting to protect their space with no idea what was required of Jado and what was done. Maybe I am wrong and they do know, however harlemgal has then not given us all the facts.
At this point this conversation is all she said with no he said in the mix. Granted Jado did not want to comment, but then where is the reach out to the landlord who is ultimately responsible for any issues in their commercial spaces.
Also please note that land yoga is having a I believe one year anniversary with live music. Do they consider the Owners and residents of the building or the surrounding buildings. I live on 115th and last time they did it the music was to damn loud. I have to say that if you can not follow what you preach then do not complain, especially when there is nothing to even complain about yet.
1st japanese owned? there is nikko on 123rd and st. nicholos is that place not japanese owned?? please inform
@harlemgal according to another blog Jado is opening on Monday are you still boycotting?
Surprised that anyone doubts Harlem Gal who writes almost completely positively about all things Harlem. She must have really been upset to write this. I am upset too. I go to Land Yoga and about all the restaurants in the area and I know for certain that a long list of them are soundproofed. I was also there when the yoga studio offered to share soundproofing costs and have been there through the noise these past months. I find the above comments troublesome. Because our neighborhood is already noisy we shouldn’t care about disturbing someone’s business? So since it is dirty should we pollute more too? That would be ridiculous. Also this is not a tea room. Lots of noise can be made from eating, drinking and music of which there will be all three. I think the comparison of a single day of music/festivities to ongoing noise to be inappropriate. I am disappointed because I wanted sushi, but I can not give business to someone who behaves this way.
You write as anonymous so once again we are left without a reliable person stating facts. If the owner of Land Yoga wanted to publicly weigh in that is one thing but to make the comments that you stated above is unfair. I could state that Jado offered to split half the costs also without knowing if it was true. You also state that many restaurants are soundproofed and yet you fail to disclose which ones they are and who covered the costs.
This whole argument is a she said without a he said. There are many facts missing and without them one could not really make an informed decision as to whether Land Yoga is truly being treated unfairly by Jado or the opposite being true.
Why is it the obligation of Jado to soundproof? If the landlord did not require and they are within their rights as the tenant and are doing all that is necessary then why are they the bad guy? Did Land soundproof their space? No they did not because they did not want to spend the money. However they have no issue asking a business that has major upfront costs to spend more money just in case the yoga business is disrupted.
I also do not find it unfair to compare a day. To me being neighborly is about each and every day. So whether a one time event or an ongoing occurence your argument holds no water. I was disturbed by music blasting, was offered no warning and it was all done in the name of bringing in business with no regard of how loud it really was.
The end result is you are giving bad press to a business that has not even opened and could actually be quieter then what the concern is.
And I agree Harlemgal writes mostly positive blog posts which is why this one is of great concern to me. I feel bad that the end result is down to an individual not giving into today’s methods of communication and therefore his side of the story is still left unsaid.
I for one am looking forward to his opening and really hope it lives up to the hype of being authentic and not overpriced.
I have worked in retail real estate for years. If Land needs soundproofing as a part of their business services then it is their responsibility to sound proof their space. It is not only an issue of cost of installation but also that soundproofing eats up valuable square footage with thicker walls. I can’t see how Land expected that space to remain vacant forever. It seems as if they have realized this is something they overlooked in their build out and are now trying to pass the buck.
@harlemgal have you followed up with Land Yoga to see if reality is different from their concerns? Now that they have been open all week and while I only went Monday, they were crowded, I assume they have been doing decent business. So is the noise that bad?
Thanks to all the readers who commented on this story. Clearly Harlemites care about the quality of life in their community.
I do have tentative plans to do a follow up story-work schedule permitting- by reaching out to both businesses equally, not just Land Yoga, to respond to additional information.
And as for blogging about things I know, see, like, dislike, I will continue to do so here at my discretion since I own and manage this blog-and readership continues to grow by using this formula. So I have no plans to change it. For those that do or don’t like it, this serves as another disclaimer.
Thanks again to all for chiming in. Stay cool and continue to stay tuned to HarlemGal Inc…
Both businesses seem to be thriving and are wonderful to their customers. We are new to living (and loving life in) Harlem. Let’s be corrigible and support our local businesses!
While they’re at it, why not ask Harlem Tavern to sound proof also. This was and still is a residential neighborhood in which many residents have to get up early to go to work, school, etc. From day one they have been extremely loud and disrespectful to all of us that live here. It should go without saying to sound proof as a courtesy to all neighbors.