Community Board 2 rubber-stamped a committee’s approval one night earlier of the license in exchange for promises to involve the community and crack down on underage drinking and post-game filth. That approval came after intense debate, but there was little discussion by the full board last night, which voted 33–0 in favor of the resolution.

“Barclays Center, here we come!” hailed CB2 Chairman John Dew after the vote.

CB2’s thumbs-up puts Levy Restaurants, which will handle catering and liquor sales, and AEG Facilities, which actually runs the day-to-day operation of the 18,000-seat Barclays Center, in a good position to get the necessary sign-off by the State Liquor Authority, an inevitability for a controversial basketball arena that was approved by the state years ago. All National Basketball Association arenas, including one in famously dry Utah, serve alcoholic beverages. And a beer or two might be welcome for some fans, given that the Nets are 21–38 on the season and have failed to quality for the playoffs. Last year, the team finished 24–58.
John Dew cropFile photo by Alissa Ambrose CB2 Chairman John Dew is excited to have a beer while he cheers.

The full board did back the committee’s conditions for the approval of the liquor license, including:

The formation of a community advisory group.

Review of the license in one year.

The drafting of plans to mitigate transportation and security problems.

A post-game clean-up that will be completed before dawn.

The use of ID readers at half of the 57 sale points of alcoholic beverages. Several board members said the mechanical readers spot fake identification better than humans, though Levy Restaurant officials disputed that claim at Tuesday’s meeting.

A limit to two drinks per person per purchase. That guideline is already the league standard.

The arena is scheduled to open with a Jay-Z concert on Sept. 28.

A date for the State Liquor Authority’s hearing on the subject has not been set.

Source: http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/cb2-toasts-barclays-center-booze-permit/

To translate, the Board is considering changing the rules to allow new beer and wine applicants to open in existing resolution areas if they are willing to limit their hours. In addition, the Board is also requesting that licensees notify community boards when applying for changes in stipulations or other method of operation changes, which would require the SLA to change its current rules. Either way, the meeting should be quite colorful.

Source: http://ny.eater.com/archives/2012/03/community_board_3_ready_to_alter_liquor_license_reviews.php

Railing against “Padlock Kelly” and holding up banners that read “Latinos Are Americans Too,” about 100 demonstrators staged a noisy protest outside police headquarters to send a message to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

“We are not drug dealers. We are not thugs. We are business people,” said Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the Northern Manhattan Restaurant and Nightclub Association.

In the lawsuit, the group accused police of abusing the public nuisance law to close businesses without warning.

Police are “illegally and improperly raiding and closing restaurants” where workers have allegedly been found selling alcohol to minors “without issuing summons, without providing restaurant owners a chance to contest the summons,” the court papers charge.

Mateo and the others stressed that they too oppose underage drinking. “We don’t want and don’t support anyone who sells liquor to a minor,” he said.

But what cops are doing “is unconstitutional because it violates due process rights” by tagging the businesses with numerous violations before alerting them, said attorney Kevin Faga of the Bronx.

Then the cops shut down the place, citing the multiple infractions.

Faga represents a Mexican restaurant called Papasito at 2728 Broadway, which was padlocked on Feb. 29 after underage auxiliary police officers were served alcohol four times over several months.

Faga said the owner had no idea anything was amiss until the police barged into his restaurant.

“The first notice an owner gets is when they padlock him,” Faga said. “That’s extreme.”

The NYPD targets Hispanic business owners because they are “the most vulnerable” and ignores underage drinking that goes on in richer neighborhoods of the city, Mateo charged.

“You don’t go to Fifth Ave. in Manhattan and padlock. You don’t do it on Park Ave.,” said state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn.) “You shouldn’t do it in Washington Heights.”

City officials defended the practice.

“It is discouraging to hear that those who sell alcohol are seeking to restrict the Police Department’s lawful efforts to hold accountable those whose illegal conduct endangers the lives of our children,” said Connie Pankratz of the city’s Law Department.

The owners said that especially hurts is that police tend to raid on Friday nights. That means they’re shut down for the weekend and lose a quarter of their monthly earnings before they can even contest the warrant.

Caesar Brito, who owns the Luna Nightclub on Webster Ave. in the Bronx, said cops raided him last October without warning.

They “threw everybody out,” he said. “There were 74 people there who had paid to be at a party. We had a big band performing.”

Brito said it took him three weeks, a lawsuit against the city, and $20,000 in legal fees before he could reopen. Ultimately the only violation that stood up was that his public assembly permit had expired, he said.

Source: Daily News (http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03-08/news/31137661_1_underage-drinking-owners-mexican-restaurant)

The Authority will host a meeting for all interested industry members in the New York City Boardroom on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. to demonstrate and discuss the new GIS Mapping System. There will be a video hook-up with the Albany office for those wishing to participate from Albany.

If you wish to attend, please call Kim Ciccone at (518) 473-6559 by COB Monday, March 5th.

See you there!

Community Board 3 is considering easing its restrictions on new liquor licenses in areas that are already packed with bars, as long as the newcomers close early and serve only beer and wine — not hard alcohol.

The change would apply to nightlife-heavy strips like Avenue A, where CB3 has a longstanding policy of not approving any new liquor licenses unless they clearly benefit the community.

That policy was designed to discourage new bars, but it has also wound up warding off other businesses like cafes that want to serve patrons a glass of wine with lunch, and high-end beer shops that want to hold early evening tastings, said Susan Stetzer, district manager of CB3.

“There have been businesses that were caught in [the policy] that some people think were never intended to be,” Stetzer said.

The new policy would be more welcoming of daytime establishments — those closing by about midnight and serving only beer and wine — in keeping with CB3′s efforts to increase foot traffic during the day and avoid new late-night establishments.

“We’re interested in preventing problems,” said David Crane, a member of CB3′s State Liquor Authority Task Force. “If they’re not open until 4 a.m., they’re much less likely to become problems.”

In addition to Avenue A, other parts of the East Village and Lower East Side that would be affected by the change include Avenue B; Avenue C; St. Mark’s Place between First Avenue and Avenue A, and between Second Avenue and Third Avenue; Ludlow Street between Houston and Delancey streets; and East Fourth Street between avenues A and B.

The community board’s role in liquor license applications is advisory, with the State Liquor Authority making the final decision. The SLA generally approves all beer and wine licenses, regardless of the community board’s view, but CB3 hopes to influence the SLA on earlier closing times.

CB3 will not vote on the proposed policy change until after a public hearing next month, said Alexandra Militano, chairwoman of CB3′s SLA Task Force.

“We feel we need more community input before we can come to a decision,” she said.

By next week, the board will send a letter to all block and tenant associations that would be affected to let them know about the meeting, which will be held March 28 at 6:30 p.m. at a to-be-determined location.

Source: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120207/lower-east-side-east-village/east-village-liquor-license-restrictions-may-ease-if-bars-close-early#ixzz1lj4dZGlY

The website — set to launch next month — will let New Yorkers search for an establishment by name or location, and scroll through its license and violation history, similar to the city’s online restaurant inspection database.

Though license information has been available online, the authority currently requires people to submit Freedom of Information requests to find out about violations cited for places that sell booze.

“Just for them to have this information at their fingertips would be very useful,” SLA spokesman William Crowley told DNAinfo, which first reported the database’s creation.

It’s unclear what kind of violations will be posted.

Crowley didn’t return calls to amNewYork Monday for further comment.

The announcement thrilled locals that are often disturbed by noisy drunks stumbling out of bars.

Corey Johnson, chair of Community Board 4 — which covers Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea, said relationships between local bars and neighbors is “one of the biggest issues” the board deals with.

“The more transparency information that residents in the city are able to get from the SLA about establishments that are potentially doing things that aren’t in line with their agreements when they got their license is a good thing,” Johnson told amNewYork.

But the nightlife industry said they were annoyed the state didn’t ask them their opinion of the new site, which hasn’t been shown to them.

Rick Sampson, president of the New York State Restaurant Association, said he was worried violation information posted “could be dangerous” to nightlife establishments if enough context isn’t published on the site.

Source: http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/new-website-will-let-nyers-check-city-bars-violation-histories-1.3490937

Club Escuelita, the legendary gay club that’s been a fixture near the Port Authority since 1996, says the State Liquor Authority is trying to put it out of business over two minor violations.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Escuelita charges the SLA is cutting corners in a bid to take away their license, a move the club charges is clearly aimed at clearing gay, lesbian, transgenders and minorities out of the gentrifying area.

“I also believe that we are no longer welcome on West 39th Street as minorities scare the mostly white tourists who patronize the newly built and expensive boutique hotels” on the block, owner Sayvon Zabar said in an affidavit.

Justice Geoffrey Wright signed an order this morning temporarily barring the SLA from moving against the club pending a full hearing on Jan. 12, when he will also consider the club’s request to order sensitivity training for the agency.

The SLA is going back to court tomorrow to try to convince the judge to change his mind. One of the club’s lawyers, Tom Shanahan, said many of the club’s customers and performers – including several drag queens – will be on hand to show their support at the hearing because “we can’t figure out why the SLA is being such a drag.”

The agency notified the club that it would not renew their liquor license, which is set to expire next month, because of two incidents last year. In one, the club’s manager was arrested for allegedly assaulting a patron. In the other, a bartender was accused of selling a drink to an undercover minor.

Zabar said in court papers the manager denies any wrongdoing, and noted that the criminal case against him is still pending. He also said the club is investigating the alleged sale of alcohol to a minor, but noted the club, which had been admitting people 18 and up, had a strict wristband policy in place to insure that no minors were served booze. The club – which has been a launchpad for the likes Lady Bunny and RuPaul – wrote the SLA in December to say they’re now barring people under 21 from going to the club.

A rep for the SLA did not return an email for comment.

Nevertheless, there is plenty of legal precedent establishing that the SLA cannot deny a liquor license on the basis of speculation that the new ownership will continue operating in the same fashion as the previous troubled establishment.  The attorney on the case correctly pointed out that that the new owner should not be penalized for what happened under the previous ownership.

Moreover, the shift from a nightclub to a karaoke lounge is critical under these facts.  The conversion to a karaoke lounge without a doubt advances the public interest.  The new ownership intends to remove the club’s dance floor and replace it with 10 separate karaoke rooms.

Community 10 members should be applauding the new ownership for envisioning the transformation of a previously problematic nightclub into a karaoke lounge.

This week, Community Board 10 tabled a recommendation that would require establishments to stop serving liquor after 2 a.m. in order to get more information from its economic development committee, which proposed the rule.

“This is something that has been tabled by our full board,” said the chair of Community Board 10, Henrietta Lyle. “It’s a recommendation from our economic development committee. A recommendation. They brought that to the full board. It’s not under consideration at this time. We have tabled this issue pending information and better clarification.”

Bars licensed to serve liquor in New York can do so as late as 4 a.m., according to the state Alcohol Beverage Control law.

Most restaurants and bars that apply for liquor licenses come to agreements with their respective community boards before applying, said a spokesperson for the New York State Liquor Authority, which is in charge of granting licenses to bars in the state.

Harlem bar owners said they didn’t understand why the community board’s economic development committee would support such a move.

“New York’s a unique city,” said Gareth Fagan, one of the owners of Harlem Tavern on Frederick Douglass Boulevard near 116th Street. “People work 24 hours a day. People want to be able to grab a drink on the way home or grab something to eat on the way home. And that’s what made it great is that you’d be able to go into a diner or a restaurant and get a full meal at 1 a.m. or at 4 a.m. — whatever the case may be.”

He added that he hadn’t heard of anyone who was in favor of the recommendation.

“I don’t understand why one neighborhood would choose to close at 2 a.m. and another down the street would be allowed to open till 4 a.m.,” he said. “I think it would be detrimental to the neighborhood.”

Ousmane Keita, who is co-owner of Bier International, a beer garden at Frederick Douglass Blvd and 113th Street, said none of the people he’d talked to supported closing their tabs early.

“It’s definitely not a good idea considering that this neighborhood is starting to boom,” Keita said. “Some of our clients come in late just to have a drink and they don’t want to be rushed.”

The next general meeting of Community Board 10 will be held on Wednesday, January 4. The board’s economic development committee meets next on Thursday, Jan. 12.

Community boards on the Upper West Side, in Hell’s Kitchen and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn have recently opposed bar, restaurant and nightclub liquor licenses over noise, crowds and safety.

Source: http://culture.wnyc.org/articles/features/2011/dec/14/bars-stop-serving-liquor-early/#

A rally was held recently on Saturday, December 17th, led by Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilman Gary Hudes.

As far as I’m aware, this is the first attempt by a major movie theatre to seek a liquor license in New York (please correct me if I’m wrong by commenting).

Earlier in the week, Murray and Hudes laid out their position against AMC’s liquor license application in a letter sent to SLA Chairman Dennis Rosen. Five reasons were cited:

• First, they argued that a “wholesome community theatre” was not the proper place for the sale and consumption of alcohol and that such consumption would “threaten the safety and well being of theatre patrons.”
• Second, the theatre has traditionally been a popular destination for children to enjoy a couple of hours of entertainment in a safe environment.
• Third, parents who drop off their children for a night at the movies have legitimate concerns about exposing their children to drunken patrons.
• Fourth, the consumption of alcohol in a dark movie theater is an invitation for “mischief, underage drinking, vandalism, and violence.”
• Fifth, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages was a dangerous proposition given the “busy and chaotic” parking situation outside of the theater.

A poll by the Levittown Patch asking whether AMC should be permitted a liquor license revealed that 48 percent supported the liquor license application and 52 percent were opposed.

In response to the criticism, AMC invited Murray and Hudes to meet with representatives of the company to discuss the plan. Instead, Murray and Hudes called on AMC to withdraw their application for a liquor license until it met with the community to consider the concerns and views of its neighbors.

However, all liquor license applicants are required to file a 30 day notice with the local municipality/community board and wait those 30 days before filing its application. This obligation is met by the applicant by just sending the notice. The applicant is not required to have met with the municipality prior to mailing its application to the SLA. Moreover, more recently AMC issued a statement in which it noted that Murray and Hudes never voiced their concerns with AMC directly and they always intended to work with local officials to hear and address and concerns. In fact, AMC stated that they reached out to local officials but their calls were not returned.

The Case for Approval of AMC’s Liquor License

Alcohol is served in plenty of places and events where kids are present without such backlash and opposition including, sporting events, restaurants, concerts, and weddings. Several establishments are in fact well-known for mixing a gaming environment with alcohol, e.g. Dave and Busters and bowling alleys.

With that said, no details have been released as to how exactly AMC will deal with the threat of underage drinking or whether the sale of alcohol will be limited to certain parts of the theatre or restricted to certain movies or showings.