CB1 Tribeca Committee: The Unofficial Minutes (July 2013) | Part 1

The meeting was a brusier—nearly three hours—so let’s break this sucker into two parts.

STREET-ACTIVITY PERMIT: JCP SUKKOT BLOCK PARTY
On Duane between Church and W. Broadway, on Sunday, Sept. 22 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a stage with family-friendly music, as well as crafts and face painting for kids. The street gets closed the night before. Vote: 4-0.

STREET-ACTIVITY PERMIT: NEW YORK RESCUE MISSION
On Lafayette between White and Walker, on Monday, Nov. 25, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. This is so buses can bring in the homeless for the Rescue Mission’s 15th-annual Thanksgiving dinner, and even the committee’s hardest asses couldn’t work up an objection. Vote: 4-0.

STREET-ACTIVITY PERMIT: SHINOLA BLOCK PARTY
On Franklin between Greenwich and Hudson, on Sunday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The committee objected on the grounds that Shinola is a commercial entity, forgetting, perhaps, that Cercle Rouge‘s non-non-profit Bastille Day party is, um, today. Even if that hadn’t been good enough reason, I see no way they would’ve been fine with an indie band playing on a quiet side street on a Sunday afternoon. But we’ll see: Shinola was encouraged to partner with a nonprofit, and then maybe the committee would get behind it. (Perhaps the promise of free food will carry the day….)

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: MARIACHI’S RESTAURANT CORP. (61 WARREN)
The Bigger Place, also known as the Bigger Little Place, at Warren and W. Broadway, is indeed changing its name, having realized that there are probably a lot of folks who don’t realize it’s mainly a Mexican restaurant. So now it’ll be called Mariachi’s—whether that forebodes a mariachi band making the rounds, I don’t know (but I tremble just the same). More relevant: It wants a full liquor license so it can make ¡MARAGRITAS!

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: ANOTHEROOM (13 WALKER)
First, who knew that Anotheroom has a Walker Street address? I was out in the hall chatting up Arnaud Tronche from Racines when Anotheroom’s owner, Greg Weiss (sp?), presented, so I missed it. (I did hear that there would be craft cocktails, rather than Jägermeister shots, and believe me when I say that I would’ve thrown back a shot or two right about then. Did I mention that this meeting went almost three hours?) A fellow audience member said that the concern was that Anotheroom, having been around for a while, can serve till 4 a.m. Vote: 6-0.

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: CHINA BLUE (135 WATTS / 451 WASHINGTON)
We didn’t learn much that we didn’t already know about the Chinese restaurant coming to the old Capsouto Frères space, and the committee was possibly too tired to object, swayed by the thought of scallion pancakes with braised short ribs (click the pic to see the menu and floor plan), unconcerned because of the 11:30 p.m. nightly closing hour, and/or unwilling to object to any fairly reasonable tenant, given that landlord (and CB1 public member) Jacques Capsouto was sitting right there. The license is for full liquor. Vote: 6-0.

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: RACINE NY LLC (94 CHAMBERS)
The new French bistro, with backing from one of the guys at Chambers Street Wines, is described here.

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: ELEVEN FOOD AND BEVERAGE (11 SIXTH AVE.)
The committee was back in fine form for the next applicant, which wasn’t (as I had thought) Tribeca Tavern, but instead the building next door, formerly home to Brite Buy liquor store. (Guess it’s not being torn down after all.) Building owner Gregory Nardello plans on opening a tiny, two-story, 24-hour diner/café there. If you’re thinking that it would exist, in good part, to woo Tribeca Grand hotel guests with cheaper prices, you may be right; the proposed name is Tribeca Grand Café, which I have to think will not go down well across the street. (Certainly, the 24-hour thing must be for the clubgoers partying at the hotel, because who else is out that late? By the way, a description of the place and sample menus are at the end of the post.) The committee said that it doesn’t give out 4 a.m. liquor licenses to new applicants, and Nardello protested that Los Americanos got one. So the committee said that the folks there had a local track record. (Nardello might have countered with Tribeca Canvas….) There was much discussion about the proposed choice: The committee could vote on the application as is (with 4 a.m. closing nightly), which they’d likely reject, or Nardello could agree to closing hours of 1 a.m. (Sunday-Thursday) and 2 a.m. (Friday-Saturday), which the committee would likely approve; either way, the State Liquor Authority ultimately decides. He went with the latter, with the understanding that he can come back after a year of operation to try again. Vote: 7-0. UPDATE: I misunderstood what happened at the end. According to a CB1 rep, Nardello hasn’t yet agreed to the stipulations: “The committee can pass a resolution with their desired stipulations whether the applicant agrees on the spot or not. The applicant has until CB1 paperwork is submitted to the SLA to decide if he will sign the Stipulations Sheet—i.e. the applicant has a few weeks to decide. If he decides not to agree to the stipulations, then the board automatically rejects the application.”

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: MASLOW 6 WINE BAR
Maslow 6 Wine Bar is adding liquor, in good part because private events want it. Even more noteworthy, however, is this: The restaurant is also adding a coffee bar in front, with coffee coming from Box Kite Coffee, a new company cofounded by Cora Lambert, who you may remember as the coffee guru at much-missed RBC NYC on Worth.

Tribeca Grand cafe descriptionTribeca Grand cafe menu2 Tribeca Grand cafe menu1 Tribeca Grand cafe menu3

 

2 Comments

  1. Cora Lambert – good news!

  2. Closing streets for block-party street fairs (Sukkot an example) is okay but I wish the Community Board would require that the sounds produced not be amplified. I live two blocks away and last year’s event could be heard echoing for more blocks away than that. It is a real nuisance to those who appreciate a quiet Sunday.