While negotiations continue apace at E.U., the blog Soho Politics updates the liquor license dispute at Lola, the Chelsea transplant readying to open at 15 Watts Street (just east of Sixth Avenue, just below Broome):
What is new about this case is not the case law. And, it's pretty clear that the community has been fighting to eliminate the proliferation of bars in SoHo. No, what is new here, are the extremes to which the applicant has been willing to go to win the case. As described by the activist, among other tactics, private investigators have been hired to track down neighbors in an attempt to intimidate her and other activists. This, of course, comes on top of the $30,000 cost for legal fees to fight the case. And, that's the cost for fighting only one bar, mind you.The Soho Politics report is very pro-resident—which is to say, very anti-Lola—but worth the read. Then stop on by Lola's website, which serenely declares, "We have been delayed by unjust interference. We will not be discouraged" and serves up renderings (like that above) and construction shots. Heh, and people thought E.U. played rough.
· A Matter of Principle [Soho Politics]
· Lola Is Soul [Official Site]
