The July agenda for Community Board 1’s Licensing & Permits Committee includes a liquor license for 57 Murray, formerly home to Cricketers Arms. Now we have more info on the establishment, via the application submitted to CB1.

The name of the pub is Hell Cat Maggie, presumably after “the pseudonym of an American criminal and early member of the Dead Rabbits. She was a well-known personality in Manhattan’s Five Points district and a noted fighter, her teeth reportedly filed into points and who wore long claw-like brass fingernails, who fought alongside the Dead Rabbits and other Five Pointers against rival nativist gangs from the Bowery, most especially the Bowery Boys, during the early 1840s” (Wikipedia).

The four principals are John Carey, Damian O’Brian, Sean Murray, Dennis Langevin, all of whom listed Long Island addresses. Carey has been involved in two pubs on Murray over the years: Biddy Early’s (43 Murray) and Lilly O’Briens (first 67 Murray and now 18 Murray). Only 18 Murray was mentioned on the application—perhaps because Biddy Early’s was reviled by the neighbors—although 43 Murray is clearly on Carey’s State Liquor Authority record. The menu they submitted to CB1 is the Lilly O’Briens menu.

According to the application, Hell Cat Maggie will be 3,800 square feet, spread over two levels, with seating for 153 patrons, if I’m reading the application correctly. (The total capacity is 240.) There will be neither live music nor non-musical entertainment, and the proprietors have deny any intention to apply for a cabaret license or sidewalk café license. The front window will be closed, which is a relief to anyone who remembers Uncle Mike’s. The requested hours to serve alcohol are 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The lease has not been signed yet.

The Licensing & Permits Committee meeting is this Wednesday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, on the 19th floor of 1 Centre Street. Bring ID to get into the building.