LIQUOR-LICENSE UPGRADE: DUANE STREET HOTEL
The hotel has always wanted a full liquor license, but some folks in the community gave it a lot of trouble when it first applied, and ultimately only beer/wine were allowed. Not unreasonably, the hotel would like to serve dinner and have minibars (or at least minibars with alcohol in them). This time, the hotel got smart—and a better lawyer?—and met with the community in advance; it agreed to stop serving at midnight and to never come back to request expanded hours, which seems a bit strict and probably unenforceable. The committee voted in favor 6-0; public members voted 3-1 (the reason for the dissent is a mystery).

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: 92 LAIGHT
The applicant requested a layover.

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: 106 DUANE
New owners of the deli on Duane between Broadway and Church would like to sell beer—or maybe the deli already does and they just want patrons to be able to drink it in the upstairs seating area; it was hard to tell. The request had been approved in September but someone messed up and missed a deadline, so the SLA made the deli refile. With a closing time of 9 p.m., no one objected. Vote: 6-0, 4-0.

SIDEWALK-CAFÉ PERMIT: INDUSTRIA ARGENTINA
No one from the restaurant showed, so it’ll have to wait a month. Oops.

STREET-PERMIT APPLICATIONS: CERCLE ROUGE AND CITY KIDS FOUNDATION
The restaurant on West Broadway between Beach and White would like to have its Bastille party again—on Wednesday, July 14—and while one board member refuses to forgive the restaurant for its “runaround” maneuver vis-à-vis a sidewalk café permit, the majority found little reason to object, perhaps because the committee chair kicked off the discussion with “My friends at Cercle Rouge! That was the best party in the neighborhood! Great party!” Anyway, it’s just for a few hours. The committee voted 5-0 with one abstainee, and the public members voted 2-0-2. (What is the point of abstaining if you’re not recusing yourself?) As for City Kids, it got unanimous permission to host its block party—on Leonard between Church and West Broadway—on Sunday, May 2, for a celebration of young people’s art.

THE MAIN EVENT: 20/20 VS. BRICK VS. WARREN AND MURRAY STREET RESIDENTS
I don’t have the emotional energy to relive the bout. Basically, 20/20 has been trying to be better about the noise, and achieving some success. Brick’s owner (top right, standing) seems to have gotten the message that he can’t just let any promoter in town throw a party (he admitted that when times got tough, he had no choice). Local residents didn’t exactly show up in droves, which was too bad, because with each owner blaming the other, no one could really say with authority what was what. Brick’s liquor license comes up for renewal in July, and one committee member stated very clearly that the SLA has empowered community boards in recent years and Brick’s owner would be wise to respect its neighbors. Several public members seemed to believe what the SLA told me back in February, which is that a restaurant’s private room must abide by the same restrictions as the main room (I was also told that if the private room is open the main room must be, too). Moreover, the restaurant’s liquor license allows for background music, and when asked what kind of music was being played, the owner said his neighbor and he had worked something out, which is not quite answering the question. But no one knew for sure. (Just a thought: If the SLA is going to empower community boards, perhaps it should make its rules crystal clear or have a representative attend the meetings.)

PARKING-REGULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
A committee member proposed creating a subcommittee to review the parking regulations in the neighborhood, in an effort to get out in front of the Department of Transportation; CB2 evidently has done this with some success. He is suggesting a combination of alternate-side parking, loading and unloading zones for trucks, and metered parking. Everyone agreed that the governmental agencies take up too much space. The unanswerable question was whether anything CB1 could do would make them—one of which is the Department of Transportation—change their behavior.