We’re still a little bleary-eyed from Community Board 3’s 7 and 1/2 hour liquor licensing hearing last night. Here’s a quick recap; more to come later.
The hearing of the SLA Committee was marked with tension between board leadership and the LES Dwellers, a neighborhood group that was suspended by CB3 as a recognized block association. That tension was particularly high as Alex Militano, the committee chair, tried to figure out what to do about The DL, whose management met with neighbors last week in an effort to address noise complaints. In the end, the panel settled on a resolution stating that the large Delancey Street nightlife venue violated at least three operating “stipulations” it had agreed to follow; the resolution asked the State Liquor Authority to add new rules to The DL’s license requiring the bar to close its windows by 8 p.m. (something management agreed to do).
In other action the committee:
- Voted to deny an application for a cafe, bar and art gallery seeking to open at 175 Orchard St.
- Persuaded the manager of a Southern-style restaurant eying 125 Rivington St. to withdraw until the owners of the proposed establishment can appear before the board.
- Rejected a proposal from the owners of Sweet Chick, the Williamsburg fried chicken joint, from opening in the old Max Fish space at 178 Ludlow St.
- Approved a plan by Russ & Daughters to open a cafe at 127 Orchard St.
- Voted to deny the operators of Artichoke Pizza from opening in the El Sombrero space at 108 Stanton St.
- Approved a proposal for a place called the Egg Shop at 43 Canal.
- Approved a full bar permit for Yunnan Kitchen at 79 Clinton St.
- Approved a plan from celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez and the operators of Frankie & Johnnie’s to open an upscale Mexican restaurant at 146 Orchard St. Closing time: 2 a.m.
- Approved a new cocktail bar at 17 Stanton St., but with shorter hours (2 a.m. closing) than the operators requested; they would also need to close their outdoor space at 10 p.m.
- Convinced the operators of a proposed restaurant featuring skewers from around the world to temporarily withdraw their application for the former Motor City space at 127 Ludlow St.
Once again, we’ll have a more detailed report coming up.
Gigi Li & some of her followers on CB3 have purged the LES Dwellers. Yet it was the Dwellers who spent the time to chronicle the DL’s multiple violations of stipulations and brought them to the attention of CB3. The time spent by the Dwellers gave CB3 the needed information to find that those violations to have occurred and thereby allowed CB3 to come up with yet another resolution to try and get the DL to operate in a responsible manner.
Gigi Li: Rather than silencing the LES Dwellers you should be thanking them for the time & energy spent to achieve enforcement of stipulations. Resolutions mean nothing if CB3 does not take strong action to make sure they are enforced.
Well said. If a board ever neeed a leadership shake up, this is the one!
I was not present, but, according to other news sources, it was the LES Dwellers that were fighting Sweet Chick (unsure about Artichoke). Really getting tired of this small group that believes they speak for the whole neighborhood.
I think you make a good point Will of why the area is broken…..not showing up but yet having a stance that is against those that do show up. If you really feel so passionate and think that “this small group that believes they speak for the whole neighborhood” is not doing the right type of work, I suggest that you come to the meetings and voice your opinion. We (LES Dwellers) live here and we spend our time doing the research and presenting the cases to CB3 in order to put some balance in place. Licenses are not a right they are a privilege. Speaking out at a community board meeting is a right. I suggest you exercise your right as we do.
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