A group of Park Slope residents have a petition going around demanding that a big new restaurant and bar on the corner of Flatbush and Sixth Avenue change its programming from hip-hop to "indie local artists." The petition's author fears the club, called Prime 6, will drive up crime with its hippity-hop music. And this has nothing to do with race! As the petitioner explains:

It's not "racist" to equate hip-hop with an elevated crime rate vis a vi other types of musical genres - It's just a statistical fact that crime is more likely to occur among urban audiences than among audiences of other demographics. R&B and rap happen to be my two favorite types of music, but no one (especially my African American friends and colleagues) would seriously deny that hip-hop's violent history tragically precedes it... Not only will [owner] Akiva Ofshtein make more money by creating a sustainable business that uses social media to bring crowd-drawing acts to Prime 6, he'll also find that by working alongside the community he's joining, he'll build loyal allies in the neighbors around him - INSTEAD of the hostility we saw at the CB6 meeting and on the internet on Tuesday. After all, which one of Prime 6's direct neighbors wouldn't be forever grateful to Ofshtein for seeding a vibrant artistic hub instead of another Yo MTV Raps "bling-bling" vip club... Please tweet and tweet and re-tweet: sign this petition to let Prime 6's owner know what he stands to GAIN by embracing independent LIVE music; and by steering clear of processed, commercial noise.

Well, Park Slopers better just sell their brownstones now before the property values plummet, because they're too late to stop the rising rap tide. When dozens of angry locals attended a Community Board 6 meeting to protest Prime 6 on Monday, they found they were already too late; the liquor license had already been approved by the SLA because no one objected when Ofshtein applied. Ofshtein tells the Brooklyn Paper, "I'm gearing up for a Park Slope clientele. My goal is not to turn people away or make them angry."

But some locals were shocked to find that the bar's MySpace page (which has since been taken down) featured suggestively posed women. And the Brooklyn Paper reports the bar's Facebook page included a link to the “Prime 6 mixed CD,” created by DJ Big Jeff, who has songs titled, “Motha F-ka, I’m Ill” and “New Money.” There goes the neighborhood. Via Brownstoner, here's one neighbor's angry speech at the Community Board meeting. Her dog slipped on the ice outside Prime 6 because of rap music!

[Via FiPS]