Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

The CB3/SLA committee voted early this morning to support Max Fish's return to the Lower East Side ... specifically a new two-level home at 120 Orchard St. (We can almost taste those new Max Fish menu items!)

Owner Ulli Rimkus and her new partners (former Max Fish employees) as well as supporters (and at least one naysyaer) waited to nearly 1 a.m. to appear before a crowded CB3/SLA docket.

You can head over to The Lo-Down and BoweryBoogie, who were in attendance, for the play by play.

BoweryBoogie also reports that the folks looking to take over El Sombrero on Stanton and Ludlow got the go-ahead as well. The new proprietors, who are related to the previous owners, plan to keep the name intact.

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St. Plans to open an outpost in Williamsburg never materialized.

Previously on EV Grieve:
First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic.

Anonymous said...

They should give out membership cards to all of the old timers, and deny entrance to the entitled slobs, frat bros, and sororityettes who overrun and overwhelm all of the other places in the 'hood. It would be nice to have a decent place to go, free of all of that nightmare crowd.

Anonymous said...

Yeah well that's a fantasy and ain't gonna happen. Max Fish is just gonna be another bar in the LES landscape serving the idiots who have overun the LES. They sold their license for a pretty penny, stuck the residents with Sweet Chicks and used nostalgia to secure a liquor license wehn Willaimsburg told them they weren't interested. What's good about another giant bar in the LES. Has anyone ventured below houston lately on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night? Shitshow.

Anonymous said...

Magician is a good bar and is never super crazy.

Kurt said...

They sold their license for a pretty penny

That's not how it works. You can't sell a liquor license. They aren't transferable.

'Licensees may not “transfer” a license, in the way transfer is commonly understood (i.e. licenses
may not be sold or given from one person or company to another). The SLA’s Licensing Bureau
staff uses the terms “transfer” and “new” applications only to differentiate between an
application for an establishment that is currently licensed and selling their business (transfer) and an establishment that is not currently licensed (new). In both cases, the license applicant must go through the same process, including notifying their CB and holding a 500 foot-hearing if
applicable. A corporate licensee may have a change of officers, directors and stockholders
without going through the entire application process. In such a case the licensee has to submit
information regarding the new persons coming into the corporation and the financing involved.'

http://www.sla.ny.gov/system/files/CB_Q-n-A.pdf

Anonymous said...


Tell us something we don't know Kurt. That's just a technicality.
They sold the assets of the corporation. The only assets that they have is the liquor license. Everyone knows how this works including the SLA.
If the license is inactive then that's a different story. One can also keep their license in safe keeping. Once a location has a liquor license it will probably be that way for all eternity because of the sale of assets. That's what the big brouhaha is all about Kurt,and that is why the LES and EV are hell on earth. The 500 foot rule is a joke, and the Community board SLA Committee is also a joke as they violate their own policies that were put in place to protect the community. The sole purpose of most of it's members is to squash the area by pushing through every license. It's a way of ridding residents. Residents are treated like garbage while the applicant gets away with murder.

I'll give you an example Kurt. A lounge opens up underneath a persons apartment. The resident has lived there for 30 years. They put a neon light right below their window. The base is thumping all night long. Patrons smoke and talk loudly right outside their window. Residents in the back of the building deal with patrons smoking and talking loudly all night. A ventilation system is installed for the kitchen. Your apartment is like an airport.

Residents show up at the Community Board Meeting to make complaints and they are told they are told.

You should get a carpet to muffle the sound.



Anonymous said...

The part I don't like is how Rimkus sold to SweetChick and now these people are going to suffer. strangely the CB went against sweet chick. It was the SLA that allowed it. I think the CB should have not allowed the transfer from Gallery bar to MaxFish, based on their denial for SweetChick and i think that this location is too big and prior tenant was problematic so why should they be able to sell.

Kurt said...

@Anon 1:38 - You have no idea what you're talking about.

Anonymous said...

@Kurt
which part don't you understand?

Kurt said...

@Anon 2:47 I'm not going to spend a lot more time arguing with you because it's all pretty senseless but if the liquor license was "sold" than why did Sweet Chick initially get denied for a liquor license?

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2013/12/sla-denies-liquor-license-grandfathered-max-fish-space-ludlow/

Anonymous said...

I'll tell you Kurt. If a license is transferred/sold then the new establishment takes on the hours and any stipulations from the prior business. So in this case Max Fish was open until 4am so that was grandfathered in. If a restaurant wants to open in a saturated area and there isn't a sale of assets they are usually offered beer and wine with 12am closing. The problem with this is that it's a restaurant staying open till 4am because of the transfer, and now they will be adding cooking ventilation which will wreak havoc for residents. Max Fish is worth paying for because of the location and hours and the other space on Orchard , formerly Gallery Bar is also worth paying for because of location hours and size.