Tempers Flare as CB 3 Reviews Liquor License Policies

Community Board 3 is in the process of reviewing the policies and practices of its SLA Licensing Committee, the group that gives advisory recommendations to the State Liquor Authority for every single bar and restaurant in the East Village and Lower East Side. As restaurateurs have pointed out over the years, the decisions of the committee often come across as mercurial and arbitrary.

And so, Paul Costa, an urban planning associate put together a proposal of new initiatives, The Lo-Down reports, and they were approved by the committee during an tense meeting last week. They include:

...creating uniform criteria to evaluate applicants, standardizing operating agreements between the community board and applicants and coming up with an objective way of deciding which blocks in the community district are truly overwhelmed with bars and clubs.

He also recommended gradually shifting away from the policy of automatically granting transfers to restaurant and bar owners that sell their businesses. However, after some harsh words from bar owner and bellicose committee member David McWater ("You want to see ballistic? This is ballistic."), that suggestion was dropped.
· Angry Words Dominate CB3 Meeting on Bar Policies [TLD]
· All Community Board Coverage [~ENY~]