Community Board 1 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has abandoned - at least for now - a bid to halt new bars from coming to the booze-saturated neighborhood, according to an article in The Brooklyn Paper today by Aaron Short.
Its Public Safety Committee last night "tabled a proposal by board Chairman Chris Olechowski to deny new liquor licenses to bars opening on residential side streets or within 500 feet from another bar - a proposal that would have effectively created a moratorium on new taverns," the article said.
Bar owners and would-be bar owners - and a State Liquor Authority official - were on hand to angrily lambast the proposal, pointing out that new bars create jobs and attract free-spending crowds that improve the local economy, the article said.
The State Liquor Authority has essentially agreed, saying that it had no intention of following a blanket moratorium by this, or any, community board - whose votes are advisory anyway, the article said.
"'As long as people are respectful, a blanket moratorium would be indiscriminate,' said Moto's John McCormick who wants to open a new restaurant called Coldwater Flats on Graham Avenue. 'Licenses should be judged on a case-by-case basis.'" the article said.
Longtime residents at the meeting, however, said that the neighborhood is oversaturated with bars and board chair Olechowski was adamant that the board should address quality-of-life issues. "Who do we work for, the State Liquor Authority or the community?" said Olechowski, who floated the moratorium a month ago, modeling his proposal on a similar proposal to curb bars in the East Village, the article said.
"'When we hear that trash cans are set on fire by rowdy drunken passersby or that knife fights break out in the middle of the street by staggering inebriated bar patrons, we cannot and must not sit by idly waiting until something tragic happens,' said Olechowski," the article noted.
"Some business leaders said that Olechowski's Prohibitionist bent is misguided. Greenpoint Business Association co-chair Eric Hall thinks the police should step up enforcement of existing nuisance laws, and the city should increase the penalty for breaking them," the article continued. "A [moratorium might prevent additional problematic establishments from popping up, but it won't do anything to correct the problem with the existing licensed establishments," said Hall.
Its Public Safety Committee last night "tabled a proposal by board Chairman Chris Olechowski to deny new liquor licenses to bars opening on residential side streets or within 500 feet from another bar - a proposal that would have effectively created a moratorium on new taverns," the article said.
Bar owners and would-be bar owners - and a State Liquor Authority official - were on hand to angrily lambast the proposal, pointing out that new bars create jobs and attract free-spending crowds that improve the local economy, the article said.
The State Liquor Authority has essentially agreed, saying that it had no intention of following a blanket moratorium by this, or any, community board - whose votes are advisory anyway, the article said.
"'As long as people are respectful, a blanket moratorium would be indiscriminate,' said Moto's John McCormick who wants to open a new restaurant called Coldwater Flats on Graham Avenue. 'Licenses should be judged on a case-by-case basis.'" the article said.
Longtime residents at the meeting, however, said that the neighborhood is oversaturated with bars and board chair Olechowski was adamant that the board should address quality-of-life issues. "Who do we work for, the State Liquor Authority or the community?" said Olechowski, who floated the moratorium a month ago, modeling his proposal on a similar proposal to curb bars in the East Village, the article said.
"'When we hear that trash cans are set on fire by rowdy drunken passersby or that knife fights break out in the middle of the street by staggering inebriated bar patrons, we cannot and must not sit by idly waiting until something tragic happens,' said Olechowski," the article noted.
"Some business leaders said that Olechowski's Prohibitionist bent is misguided. Greenpoint Business Association co-chair Eric Hall thinks the police should step up enforcement of existing nuisance laws, and the city should increase the penalty for breaking them," the article continued. "A [moratorium might prevent additional problematic establishments from popping up, but it won't do anything to correct the problem with the existing licensed establishments," said Hall.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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