In August, CB3's SLA committee voted against Allan Mannarelli's application to move the Cock from its current Second Avenue home several blocks north to the former Lit Lounge space.
Afterwards, according to a report by Lisha Arino at DNAinfo, Mannarelli said that he planned to appeal directly to the State Liquor Authority (SLA).
He has kept his word: The application will be heard this morning in front of the SLA (PDF here)...
Residents who were opposed to the move to 93 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street said that the block was already oversaturated with bars, with 61 licensed operators in the immediate vicinity, among other reasons.
Meanwhile, signs appeared on the Lit door later in August noting that the bar/club would reopen on Sept. 11 after a "deep clean vacation." It didn't open that weekend. However, Lit was up and running this past Friday and Saturday night…
lit opens back up tomorrow
Posted by Lit Lounge on Thursday, September 24, 2015
Lit first closed at the end of July after 13 years. There was talk of a relocation to Brooklyn, but those plans have yet to materialize.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Lit Lounge is closing on 2nd Avenue
New, confusing signs up at the former Lit Lounge space
This has happened before in history, people pay taxes yet have not control over the city where they live. Upstate government decides to give out liquor licenses despite local rejections of those applications. Is it finally time to divorce New York state from our city?
ReplyDeletethis is a result of a weak community board and disinterested elected officials. the "powers that be" in east village and lower east side have too many special interests that have nothing to do with what residents need (forget about want).
ReplyDeletebuying your way to the top seems to be the only way these days.
too bad.
gotta keep the population pacified, if you're gonna use chemical wrfarew on your own citizens booze serves the purpose well.
ReplyDeleteI hope he gets the license. Sorry, haters.
ReplyDeleteWhen CB3 is very opposed to something it is AMAZING how SLA barely takes them into account.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this whole thing is weird because Lit re-opened, so I don't really get it.
Putting aside the CB's opinion for a second:
ReplyDeleteThe SLA is going to look at it like this - a questionable operator is attempting to transfer a license to a somewhat-more-reliable operator (depending on how you look at things). Assuming consistency going forward - that you can expect The Cock to run this like The Cock has been run - this is a non-impactful change to the neighborhood. So unless a 500-ft hearing applies, they really have no reason to reject it. And the SLA's position is to "approve unless..." Even a worse-case-scenario here doesn't really give the SLA a strong reason to reject the application.
The SLA does take the community board into consideration. But the community board's burden is to present a convincing case. If the decision is strictly bureaucratic or if it takes selective facts into question quite obviously, then the CB's statements are not very convincing after all. I agree that the neighborhood is saturated... but also, the space has an existing license that was already approved by the SLA, and all the licenses in the vicinity were approved by a (broken but established) process of applications, hearings and community input as well. What's changed about that?
What's more, I can't really argue with opening a public food/beverage/alcohol establishment on an avenue in Manhattan unless the operating team is a bunch of criminals or serial violators. I understand this position is not politically popular among some neighborhood stalwarts. But no one can argue that these kinds of applications are surprising or unusual. And certainly these businesses are in-demand, both from locals and from tourists. It's a net benefit to the city to have them, particularly when it's a one-for-one operator replacement deal (this is actually a net reduction in licenses!). Let's take the tax revenue and build something nice for the public with it.
I may be mistaken but Albany is the paper to all community board's rock, therefore until this arrangement changes we have zero control over liquor licenses.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather the COCK that an other douche bro/ho bar.
ReplyDeleteSiding with the Cock on this one.
ReplyDeleteIf you've ever been by or at the one down the street, it's not that loud on the outside and really not that loud on the inside. I'd rather have gays and drag queens than the loud, entitled, rude bros and hos who burst into song almost every night on my block.
ReplyDelete@ Brian Van and those supporting this. The issue is not about a gay bar or taking over an existing space with a license. The issue is about the guy behind this venture. He turned a coffee shop/bookstore that catered to the LGBT community into SuperDive overnight. So he took something away from the community he claims to support with the Cock and left the community with the worst bro and bra bar ever. He did this all by using a loophole in SLA law. He is not to be trusted and should never be allowed to get another liquor license in this community. If you pay attention to his application this is not going to be just a bar, but a performance space etc. His current space is in a commercial building and this will be in the ground floor of a tenement. A huge difference to the people in the building and on the block. So the argument about Avenues is absurd. There are tenements on the Avenues and many of us live in them, they are not commercial, but residential with any space on the ground floor that can be used for commercial zoned to meet local community needs. They are zoned for the old butcher, baker, hardware store etc, not for a bar or lounge with live entertainment. So this guy should keep his cock where it is and not move it into the ground floor of a residential building. Please gather your facts before opining, especially when it seemingly will not impact you directly.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the younger gays are bros. They all dress the same in their normcore clothes and drink boring beer. I miss the creative gay people who once lived in this neighborhood. They are all gone because they can't afford it here anymore and it isn't "in" to be different anymore. Everyone wants to be the same.
ReplyDeleteWell said Anony 5.13 PM.
ReplyDeleteWhat is "normcore" (dress etc.)?
ReplyDeleteWondering why all the hatred for bro and bra bars since basically is just an age issue--I guess if its under 25 old folks hate it. If the East village loses the ability to serve as a stumbling ground for college kids and those fresh out, then it will have lost something that made it great and resulted in its gentrification and change from the needle ghetto that it had turned into by the 80s. That is just plain old fogey-ism. In any event, great or horrible bar that Superdive was, depending on your viewpoint, such was not illegal in any way that I ever heard of and lasted all of 6 months something like 6 years ago. If this is all you have as ammunition, then by witch-hunt standards, take your toy pitchforks back to get-a-life-ville. If there issues with Allan Mannarelli and the places he currently operates, then I suppose that would be better to use--but I guess there is nothing. But back to the actual issue here: the location which is Lit Lounge. Its been a liquor destination for longer than most of whoever is complaining have lived here. If this was a side street, maybe, but 2nd avenue? Pick your battles or get ready for no one to listen to you ever.
ReplyDeleteThe EV was never a needle ghetto and this has nothing to do with ageism. You my friend are an idiot.
ReplyDelete