Thursday, July 8, 2010

Senator's bill could shutter problem bars — eventually


Also in The Villager this week... reporter Michael Mandelkern looks at a new bill by Sen. Daniel Squadron. Per the article:

The state Senate passed a bill on June 24 that sets guidelines for the State Liquor Authority to revoke the licenses of routinely raucous bars and clubs.

If Governor David Paterson signs the bill — co-sponsored by state Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblymember Robin Schimminger — into law, the S.L.A. could shut down nightspots if police are called at least six times within two months for excessive noise and disorderly conduct.


However! There's a however...

Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3 . . . was doubtful that many places would have enough bad incidents to fall within the new S.L.A. standard.

"There are some bars [in the Lower East Side] that have constant problems, but I think it would be extremely unusual [to have six incidents in 60 days]," she said. “There are very few bars that would reach this level."

5 comments:

Shawn said...

I hope they call it the bar Squadron! ;-) This is a step in the right direction.

Keep us posted if it is/isn't signed. And what is Bloomberg and the City Council stance on this?

EV Grieve said...

Hmm, Squadron is a little subtle for a bar name. How about, "Get Bombed"?

Good question what Bloomy thinks about all this...

Anonymous said...

This is good symbolically but will likely not help at all. To get the police to actually come and issue violations because of noise is rare unless the place is really out of control or someone gets shot. Squadron should work on creating legislation to prevent so many bars in one area to begin with. It could be X number of licenses within 500 feet, NO exceptions. Whether it's 3 or more can be debated but when there's wiggle room for exceptions a good lawyer will find a way to get their way.

blue glass said...

bar complaints seem to be low on the police totem-pole, and in an active precinct like the east village/lower east side one can hardly only blame the police.
to expect them to issue a complaint every 10 days for all the raucous bars would mean a giant decrease in other police crime-prevention activities.
the awareness of how much of a problem bar can be is a first step, but let's get real here.

Anonymous said...

Three new bars in three blocks on Second Ave between 10th and 12th Streets in the past year. They get drunk/clog the streets/scream/yell/throw litter all over the place. I've lived down here for 14 years and I have NEVER seen anything like this. The entire character of the neighorhood is completely changed. Once a place known for good restaurants and "quaint" shops -- its now THE place to come and get drunk and act up. How does the right of a few bar owners trump the rights of all the rest of us to live in peace in a very lively but nice neighborhood? How did this happen and what can we do about this. The new law will do nothing to help unless we all work together. Help! -- contact me directly at abonus2001@yahoo.com -- and let's see if we can do something constructive about it.