Liquor-License Freeze Enacted in N.Y.

[larrylee]

The state liquor board yesterday imposed an immediate four-month freeze on approving liquor licenses for areas of New York City that already have three or more license holders within 500 feet of each other.

A public hearing on state liquor laws, the liquor board and underage drinking is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at 250 Broadway, Manhattan, in the State Senate Hearing Room, on the 19th floor.

The liquor board’s order, effective immediately until Dec. 31, does not apply to restaurants, the board said, but to licenses for “bars, clubs and cabarets that are subject to the 500-foot rule.”

NY Times

[Sneakeater]

This may be even worse than a foie gras ban.

[Kent Wang]

Is this being backed by those that want to restrict drinking or by those that have a vested economic interest in preventing competition?

[Andrew Fenton]

Is this being backed by those that want to restrict drinking or by those that have a vested economic interest in preventing competition?

According to the article, neither.

[Sneakeater]

It's being backed by people who think their neighborhoods are too noisy and full of B&T drunks.

[Megan Blocker]

It's being backed by people who think their neighborhoods are too noisy and full of B&T drunks.

←

I haven't read the article, but earlier reporting on this seemed to suggest that, yes, it's a NIMBY effort, led primarily by young families in neighborhoods formerly known for nightlife or artists: TriBeCa, SoHo, etc.

This explains why construction on the new bar across 2nd Avenue from my apartment (on a block that has three restaurants and one pub already) has halted.

[Andrew Fenton]

It's a short article, and probably worth reading. According to it, the freeze is a reaction to alcohol-related murders:

The unanimous action by the New York State Liquor Authority, which was immediately denounced by a trade group of city nightclubs, follows the deaths this year of two young women. They were killed after drinking heavily at nightspots in SoHo and Chelsea.

Others know the situation far better than I do, and the article may be misleading. But it suggests that if there's a critique to be made of the freeze, it's that it's a hysterical over-reaction to a real problem.

[Megan Blocker]

Hmmmmm...this, I get:

Last month, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed legislation that made it easier for the city to shut down establishments that fail to conduct background checks of security workers.

But I don't understand how the new ban will help with that issue - is the idea behind this ban really to prevent irresponsible owners from opening up shop and hiring criminal bouncers? Then why wouldn't you ban all openings? A bar can hire a bad employee regardless of its proximity to other establishments.

Plus, it looks like this isn't so much a new rule as an edict to rigidly enforce an existing rule:

It was not immediately known how many applications were awaiting review, but the board has looked at 14 cases involving the 500-foot rule so far this year.

The 500-foot rule, which is usually applied in Manhattan, prohibits the issuance of full liquor licenses for establishments when there are already three or more such establishments within 500 feet of each other. There are exceptions to the rule, and critics have accused the board of leniency.

“This moratorium,” said Daniel B. Boyle, the board’s chairman, “will give the S.L.A. time to thoroughly analyze the policies, procedures and applications that govern nightclubs and bars in N.Y.S.”

Or am I reading that bit wrong?

The reason given doesn't seem to apply to the rule - which makes me think that this is NIMBY disguised as something nobler.

Edited September 7, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Sneakeater]

I think that the evidence for it's being that is pretty substantial, when you look at the actions of certain community boards in blocking liquor licenses over the last several months.

[Megan Blocker]

I think that the evidence for it's being that is pretty substantial, when you look at the actions of certain community boards in blocking liquor licenses over the last several months.

←

That was my thinking as well. For instance, there's this example of a TriBeCa bar not being able to open because a Sufi mosque recently opened in the block.

Angerosi's bid for a liquor license was opposed by several White Street residents at a State Liquor Authority (SLA) hearing last year, and turned down by the agency in December. Now, as he prepares an appeal and suffers what he says is a loss of $13,000 each month that his doors are shut, his troubles are spreading to other bar owners on the street.

And this example of a new gastropub being denied a full liquor license because the community residents think there are enough bars already.

Indeed, E. Fourth St. neighbors, backed up by Community Board 3, have been telling Giraldi — who also directed the video for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” — to, well, beat it. The opponents say the block already has more than enough bars and restaurants and that E.U. — whose anticipated opening was creating a buzz on restaurant blogs — would be a major draw, attracting traffic and causing noise.

[Pan]

Many of my neighbors here in the East Village are very upset about the constant loud noise from bars that open onto the street, after midnight. Cops have to go around trying to enforce noise policies all the time, and once they leave, it gets loud again.

[Busboy]

We have similar problems -- and similar attempts at resolving them -- here in DC. The crowds are ridiculous and -- late at night -- aggressively obnoxious. Drunks piss in your yard or alleyway. Petty theft becomes a nightly occurrance. People get shot. Perhaps worse, useful enterprises like hardware stores, framing shops, and clothing stored get forced out because they can't afford the higher rates that booze peddlers can pay. And forget finding a parking space. Compounding the situation is the fact that it's heavily out-of-neighborhood crowd.

I'm not enough of a free-market capitalist to give a shit on a theoretical basis about a few trendy bars more or less locating in a hip neighborhood. Quality of life is important, too. A moratoreum on liquor licenses is an unweildy tool, but it often seems to be the only one available.

And, let's cut off the "why did you move here in the first place" argument with the response that often people like my friend Beth in Adams-Morgan (and Pan in the Village?) made these neighborhoods home many years ago.

[H. du Bois]

I'm seriously ambivalent about this issue. On one hand, my neighborhood is turning into restaurant row, and one particular establishment which is open till 4 AM on weekends is the cause of my being awakened at closing time by a bunch of drunks baying at the moon.

On the other hand, I moved to NYC because I didn't want to live a suburban life, and I liked going out to clubs and being a part of the night life. I can't stand it that the past two mayors are killing that aspect of New York's culture by strangling it to death with ordinances.

[Megan Blocker]

Many of my neighbors here in the East Village are very upset about the constant loud noise from bars that open onto the street, after midnight. Cops have to go around trying to enforce noise policies all the time, and once they leave, it gets loud again.

←

Yeah, I have that problem in my neighborhood, too...in fact, a few months ago, I had to jump over someone's dinner, which was splattered all over the doorstep of my walk-up building. It's actually gotten a lot better recently, though. Not sure why...maybe the frat boys are tired. (I live on 2nd Avenue in the '80's, kiddy-corner from Dorrian's, baby.)

And, let's cut off the "why did you move here in the first place" argument with the response that often people like my friend Beth in Adams-Morgan (and Pan in the Village?) made these neighborhoods home many years ago.

Absolutely. And quality of life is very important. But I think that the families that have moved to TriBeCa anytime in the last ten years or so should have known what they were getting themselves into.

That said, noise from bars can be a real problem. So is the smoke that wafts in my third-floor windows from outside the bar below, now that the smokers have been banished to the sidewalk. Because I deal with stuff like this every night, I have no serious issues with the number of bars being regulated, but it irks me when the real reasons are cloaked, which I suspect they are right now.

Edited September 8, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Sneakeater]

I'm seriously ambivalent about this issue.  On one hand, my neighborhood is turning into restaurant row, and one particular establishment which is open till 4 AM on weekends is the cause of my being awakened at closing time by a bunch of drunks baying at the moon. 

On the other hand, I moved to NYC because I didn't want to live a suburban life, and I liked going out to clubs and being a part of the night life.  I can't stand it that the past two mayors are killing that aspect of New York's culture by strangling it to death with ordinances.

←

Absolute complete agreement. (I mean with BOTH paragraphs.)

Edited September 8, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Pan]

I agree, too. And as a musician, I'm particularly upset with the increasing disappearance of live music from bars, partly because of lack of interest from today's youth and partly because of the damned Cabaret Laws and noise complaints.

[markemorse]

The same thing is happening to Amsterdam as well, but the most painful examples here involve "new urban dwellers" moving into neighborhoods with established music venues (our 25-year-old jazz mecca the BIMHuis, for example) and complaining about the noise until the venue has to move to a more expensive or less central location. Or close altogether.

Anyway, sorry for a tug OT, but i'll end with: I feel your pain. It's a frustrating situation for someone who (while I like my sleep), like H. du Bois, I live in an urban environment for its vitality and alive-ness and late-night possibilities. And music.

mem

EDIT: Sorry, meant to add that we have the restricted liquor license thing happening here too, but with coffeeshops (yes, those coffeeshops).

Edited September 9, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[Busboy]

I agree, too. And as a musician, I'm particularly upset with the increasing disappearance of live music from bars, partly because of lack of interest from today's youth and partly because of the damned Cabaret Laws and noise complaints.

←

I live in the neighborhood directly adjoining Adams Morgan, which (as mentioned earlier) has gradually gone from "lively" to "obnoxious" in the last few years. Unfortunately, a small band of neo-prohibitionist-types has used the Adams-Morgan example to completely stomp out live music in my 'hood, including the roving mariachi bands that used to move from bar to bar in our heavily Hispanic 3-block "strip." These guys once brought a decible meter to a free kids event in the park!

While I can see why there needs to be some control, the stomping out of live music seems particularly egregious.

[tommy]

It's being backed by people who think their neighborhoods are too noisy and full of B&T drunks.

←

i can't imagine they care where the noisy drunks live.

worse than a foie gras ban though, definitely.

[adegiulio]

full of B&T drunks.

←

i can't imagine they care where the noisy drunks live.

worse than a foie gras ban though, definitely.

←

Amen to that...