In search of drunk-brunch answers at the Post

This past week, East Village resident Robert Halpern sued the State Liquor Authority over a loophole in the 1999 law that allows bottomless brunches.

Steve Cuozzo uses that as a jumping off point in a column at the Post. Drunk brunch, and drinking in general among the millennial set, is a citywide scourge, he writes.

There’s never been as much binge boozing as there is today. It stretches far beyond the Lower East Side’s infamous “Hell Zone” to Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg and Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side. In the Meatpacking District, vomit on the pavement makes me cringe more than smelly carcasses once did. Even hotel rooftops and high-end restaurants are affected: Top chef Michael White actually employs a bouncer to stand on Lafayette Street to protect his Italian trattoria Osteria Morini from “young, affluent, intoxicated people stumbling from one place to the next,” a manager explained to me.

Any explanations?

A few causes of this drunken oblivion are obvious. Affluent young singles cluster in neighborhoods oversaturated with saloons. Restaurants promote “beverage programs” more than food.

Some media outlets seem bent on driving half the youthful population into AA. Time Out New York’s September issue feature on the craft-beer scene is blurbed on the magazine’s cover as “67% information, 33% inebriation.”

Also! Citing stats that show Manhattan is home to 38 percent more women than men among recent college graduates, Cuozzo believes the imbalance is driving this demographic to drink.

What’s that got to do with binge drinking? When gender expectations are wildly out of sync, anxiety is soothed with alcohol’s fast-acting flood of relief.

East Village resident sues State Liquor Authority over bottomless brunches

East Village resident Robert Halpern, a lawyer who has lived here for more than 30 years, is in the news after he sued the State Liquor Authority over a loophole in the 1999 law that allows bottomless brunches (drunk brunch, drunch, etc).

The Real Deal first had the story yesterday:

These weekend specials, where you pay a set price for unlimited alcohol during brunch hours, are prohibited by law, according to Halpern’s complaint, and they’re contributing to the “deterioration of the neighborhood.”

According to Halpern’s calculations, there are 679 active liquor licenses in the East Village alone, and the Liquor Authority keeps approving more. There were 305 new liquor licenses approved in the area in 2016, and 243 in 2017.

“There are too may people running around drinking all the time,” Halpern told The Real Deal. “It’s become more and more of a drinking culture here.”

From the Post:

“Anybody who has lived in this neighborhood for a while knows that it’s gotten out of w​h​ack. There’s no balance anymore in terms of people living here and people just deciding to have fun here,” he said.

The SLA has claimed that bottomless brunches — where customers pay a set amount for endless mimosas and Bloody Marys — are exempt from a rule prohibiting unlimited drinks because the “service of alcohol is incidental to the event.”

Halpern insists that’s nonsense.

“Alcoholic beverages are not ‘incidental’ to the bottomless brunches, they are intrinsic to them,” he said.

And the Daily News:

A Liquor Authority spokesman said that state law prohibited over-serving — even during bottomless brunch.

"Serving unlimited drinks is prohibited under the Alcoholic Beverage Control law, and instances of over serving by our licensees are aggressively investigated and prosecuted," SLA spokesman Bill Crowley said, adding that the law does provide for certain "special circumstances."

His complaint reportedly enumerates 17 bottomless brunches available in the East Village, including the Cloister Cafe on Ninth Street, Jeepney on First Avenue and Pardon My French on Avenue B.

Report: 10 a.m. brunch drinking can officially commence this weekend

Back in June, Gov. Cuomo and the NY Legislature agreed to reform the state's Alcohol Beverage Control Law that reportedly dated back some 80 years.

Soooooo bars and restaurants in the city will be able to start serving drinks at 10 a.m. on Sundays instead of noon.

There was some question at the time when this go into effect.

The answer (H/T Grub Street!): This weekend.

Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday signed the so-called "Brunch Bill" legislation.

Now if Cuomo will only do something about Section 10-114 of the New York City Administrative Code for the benefit of puppeteers citywide.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Cuomo clears way for brunch drinking to start at 10 a.m. on Sundays (35 comments)

When can you officially drink at 10 a.m. for Sunday brunch?

As you probably know, Gov. Cuomo and the NY Legislature recently agreed to reform the state's Alcohol Beverage Control Law that reportedly dated back some 80 years.

So bars and restaurants in the city will be able to start serving drinks at 10 a.m. on Sundays instead of noon.

But when will this go into effect?

A couple people asked me... Well, according this Associated Press article from last week:

The Democrat worked with state legislators from both parties and industry leaders to hammer out details of the bill approved in the state Senate and Assembly. Cuomo is expected to sign the legislation soon. It takes effect 60 days after.

I haven't seen any mention of Cuomo signing this just yet.

Report: Cuomo clears way for brunch drinking to start at 10 a.m. on Sundays

As you may have heard, Gov. Cuomo and the NY Legislature agreed to reform the state's Alcohol Beverage Control Law that reportedly dated back some 80 years.

So, soon, bars and restaurants in the city will be able to start serving drinks at 10 a.m. on Sundays instead of noon.

To the Post:

“Before I was in the [restaurant] industry, I would order a drink at 11:30 a.m. And I would say, ‘What do you mean you can’t serve me?’ ” said Danny Mena, 36, who co-owns Hecho En Dumbo in the East Village. “It was quite an archaic law.”

Nicolas Lorentz, 35, general manager of Lafayette in the same neighborhood, said the extra two hours would boost the bottom line.

“The brunch crowd is a drinking crowd. This is helpful to any brunch restaurant in New York City. We will get more people coming here early,” Lorentz predicted.

This may go into effect as early as this coming Sunday. Which means that you may have to avoid parts of Avenue B even earlier now.

Big word alert: From the front lines of the Avenue B brunch war

An EVG reader noted the arrival of sidewalk graffiti outside bonkers brunch spot Poco on Avenue B and East Third Street …



Per the reader: "I had to look up the word but sums it up about right. Haha."



Also…



…there's a similar message across the Avenue outside Mama's Bar…



One fed-up neighbor describes Poco as a "horror show."

"Poco is constantly crowding the sidewalk, and attracted people from many different areas to come and have a free-for-all of drinking and not realizing that we actually live here," the neighbor said.

Poco's website advertises that it has the "Best boozy brunch on the island."

Zi Pep starting weekend brunch service on Saturday

From the EV Grieve inbox...from the folks at Zi Pep on East Ninth Street...

Zi Pep will be starting brunch service Saturday. It will run both Saturday and Sunday.

We will also be doing a Valentine’s Day dinner for $49 per person.

And the brunch menu...

Noted

[via EV Grieve reader AC]

Seventh Street and Avenue A.

Bar Veloce now open for breakfast (brunch whatever)

Speaking of breakfast... I didn't realize that the newly expanded Bar Veloce on Second Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street was now serving breakfasty foods... open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Casimir now offering a 'bottomless' drink brunch

Casimir on Avenue B is under new ownership... and some longtime patrons have been fretting about the changes in store at the French bistro... the following item should give those people more reason to worry... is a 25-cent wing night close behind? The following news release is from the EV Grieve inbox...

[Dave on 7th]

MAKE BRUNCH LAST ALL DAY WITH BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS & BLODDY [sic] MARYS AT CASIMIR BRUNCH AND ENDLESS DRINKS FOR $19.95

NEW YORK- NY On Saturdays and Sundays Casimir is serving brunch with bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Marys! For only $19.95 you can enjoy their delightful brunch menu and as many of the two brunch beverage favorites as you can drink. Come in between 11am and 4pm and get your Saturday off to a good start or begin your Sunday Funday!

East First Street, 9:22 a.m., April 23

Prune brunch starts at 10 a.m.

Today in brunch lines

EV Grieve reader Mike notes the following this morning in front of the Clinton Street Bakery Co. ...

Per Mike:

"The line is being subjected to backhoing and sledgehammering like 5 feet from where they will be standing. It's too loud to even talk, and fumy and dusty. I mean, I imagine it's a pretty good brunch, but no brunch is worth that..."

Pruning in the rain

A few people waiting for tables for Prune's brunch yesterday morning... For a moment, it seemed like some kind of spectator sport (the golf umbrella)... and a few people escaping the rain under the awning... with their faces pressed against the glass... Must have been one humorous sight from within the restaurant...

You'll need to find somewhere else to stand in line: Prune is closed for brunch this weekend!

Anyway, never been...given the lines out here weekend mornings, must be good or...?

WIll Permanent Brunch be serving booze?

Permanent Brunch, at 95 First Ave, near Sixth St., apparently finally opens tonight or Monday. The place was supposed to open last fall, but didn't. Since then, they've collected assorted stop work orders. (Looks like they may owe the city $5,000 too.)




Whatever. People buying a few of those $6 doughnuts will take care of that!

Meanwhile, in yesterday's post on PB's bacon bar, Goggla asked this: Do they have a liquor license? Good question! The writeup at UrbanDaddy, which specializes in getting the scoops on the douchiest places around, mentioned something about Bloody Marys. Though I didn't finish the article. (You try to finish it!) A doozy of a piece on PB in the Examiner mentions a "Champagne List."

I didn't see an active liquor license listed for PB on the SLA Web site. [Update: A commenter says PB purchased the license from the previous tenant.]

Perhaps after serving brunch for a few months, some new owners can come in with a big dumpster. They fill it with booze. Anyone is welcome to swim in the alcohol -- just as long as you have a reservation. The dumpster can fit up to 60 people. The name: Permanent Drunk.

Noted

Permanent Brunch, which opens to the public Monday on First Avenue near Sixth Street, features a bacon bar.

The streets and sidewalks seem pretty empty this holiday weekend except for...

...all those people standing in line for brunch at Clinton Street Bakery Company....