Ready to Rumble!

I’m spending tonight at a Community Board meeting with the Municipal Art Society. If you’ve never been to one, then lucky you. They need to be spiced up. Here is what I would like to see:

Welcome to the State Liquor Authority Licensing Showdown!

In this corner we have the board members of Community Board 2 representing the residents of Greenwich Village! These men and women have lived here for a long time, own property, and/or have decided that it is their job to keep the place peaceful.

In the opposing corner we have the business owners and restaurateurs! These people alternately create or sap off the ambiance of Greenwich Village. They invest lots of money in the area and want a return. They need customers and customers pay high margins for booze, at night, and make noise.

Are you Readddy to Rummmbbblllle????

And by rumble I mean speak politely under Roberts Rules of Order to present your case. Yes, I’m back to reality and the reality of Community Board meetings is much less entertaining than the premise. Residents vs Business. Peace and Quiet vs Loud and Celebratory. Neighborhood Culture vs Neighborhood Liveliness. These are the juxtapositions that make the difference between a place one is simply in vs a place one desires to be a part of. Greenwich Village is not just a spot on the map –it’s one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in the country. An early outpost of New Amsterdam, it became a thriving immigrant community, declined, and then became a thriving artist community.

Nowadays it might become a victim of it’s own success. Rents are high in the neighborhood, spaces are small. Running a viable retail business here is tough. Booze sells at high margins, and customers flock from all over the region. Friday and Saturday nights are often standing room frat parties. Personally, I go elsewhere on those evenings.

This board tries to regulate bars at the point of origin – the application for a liquor license. If granted it lasts for two years almost regardless to the operation of the establishment.

In reality, so long as businesses are willing to say that they will only operate until about midnight weekdays and 2am weekends, insulate music and respond to complaints there is almost no way for the board to say no. If a bar reapplies and has a history of complaints than the board has more ammo.

This is however a chance for the community board to ask for something different than a loud bar with large drink purchases. The good applications move through seamlessly, the bad like molasses.

Whichever side you support, this is one of the processes that creates a neighborhood. In the end businesses and residents have to live together. This is a forum that moderates that arrangement. The community board tends to represent older and more established resident interests. The businesses want to function with autonomy so long as it earns them money. Personally I don’t see myself reflected by either side, but I do note that somebody needs to protect the ambiance of places we love if we want them to remain that way.