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For quite some time now, a group of East Village residents have been pressuring the local Community Board to snuff out Death & Co., the dark and sophisticated bar on East Sixth street, just down the block from that old timer who sells and repairs bicycles. Like other turbo-gentrifying neighborhoods, the local scolds are fed up with the all the noisy drunkards staggering around their neighborhood at all hours, and they’ve focused their energy on less-established newcomers like Death & Co.
The irony is that compared to the area’s rowdier bars, Death & Co. is a paragon of civility: A doorman stationed outside shushes patrons like an overbearing librarian, occupancy is limited to the number of available seats, and the place closes at midnight. Nevertheless, owner David Kaplan ran afoul of the State Liquor Authority [SLA] last year and had to close for seven days, as well as pay a $10,000 fine.
The SLA has since refused to renew his liquor license, which will surely kill Death & Co. for good; the authority says Kaplan’s current method of operation is “in contradiction” with the method of operation and hours under which the license was approved. This is a reference to the strategy used by some bars that promote themselves as a restaurant to win over tough community boards, but then emphasize the booze in order to pay the rent.
However, Death & Co. is still very much in the business of serving food, and it closes so early one wonders how it even stays afloa. So it’s unclear just what the contradiction is. Now the Observer has it that Kaplan is going to sue the SLA; his lawyer is calling the ruling “arbitrary and capricious.”
Photo courtesy Lobster Rocket.
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Instead of sending thousands of troops to Iraq, we should send them a bunch of community boards. Acts of terror would magically be replaced by planters and flower boxes; Muqtada Al Sadr would get into the landlord business; and Al Qaida would spend their free time collecting antiques instead of cutting off contractor's heads on the internet.
although not a huge fan of the proliferation of new bars and restaurants in the neighborhood (mostly because I like my favorite haunts to hang around a while before being erased and replaced), one wonders how anyone can stay in business for more than five minutes with the challenge of high rents and other impediments being what they are. In this climate, an joint like the Absinthe House (New Orleans, circa the early 1800's?) would be a Dunkin Donuts already.
I don't get why people move into an area full of bars and restaurants and then bitch about how it's full of drunk people. Hello? Why did you move there in the first place?
I've had multiple opportunities to live outside of Dallas, where I could make as much money as I do here, and live like a king by comparison, but you know what? I don't live outside of Dallas, because Dallas and the surrounding area suck. This would be like me moving there and then bitching constantly about the heat, the anti-alcohol stance of many of the counties, the bible-thumping, and the overabundance of guns. Since these things upset me ... I choose not to live near them. That's what people call "common fucking sense"
"Instead of sending thousands of troops to Iraq, we should send them a bunch of community boards."
who knew the comment of the week would arrive so early in the week?
#3, I'm guessing most of the complaints aren't filed by twenty-something hipsters, but likely by the middle aged people that have lived in the neighborhood before it was cool. In a sense, you're arguing against the bar in this case - why would they move into an area known for community boards which strongly oppose gentrification? I think this example is more like a biker bar moving into a bible-thumping subdivision.
I don't really think D&C is the best example since they seem to be pretty accommodating neighbors, but it seems well within the rights of the neighborhood to say they don't need another bar when, as you said, the area is full of them.
death & co is a fabulous place and should be left open. 2x4 should be closed and banned.
Sidenote -
I get the impression that the complaints are coming more from newer residents than from long-timers. Perhaps I'm mistaken. The area's been full of restaurants and bars for a long time so it seems odd for community boards to be going after them now.
Then again, I've never understood the type of people who want to live on streets like Park Avenue, where there is absolutely nothing but residences, and you have to hike to get to anything interesting. I'd rather deal with a few shouts at night and live somewhere that has, you know ... stuff.
that bike shop nextdoor is the worst. they rip you off, are not friendly, and I am convinced they sell mostly stolen bike parts.
"Instead of sending thousands of troops to Iraq, we should send them a bunch of community boards."
Brilliant.
Manhattan is just way past the tipping point in terms of population density. Sure. Tokyo is much denser, but it's designed to build in some privacy, as bizarre as that may sound. People are going to get on each others nerves, and as is tradition in Manhattan, 'Not In My Neighborhood' is the prevailing feeling.
However, we'd still like all that tax money to pay for our bratty teenage kids to go to Stuyvesant for free.
Listen up, you ignoramuses!
Families were living there for years before the bars moved in - after gentrification. If anything moves out, it is the bars!!
Any bar owner who moves into a residential neighborhood like 6th Street should have realized that the operation would not be welcomed.
Nowadays the residents have an SLA that enforces the 500-ft Law, meant to prevent oversaturation.
This bar owner is wasting his money on a shyster lawyer, probably like Bookman & Pesetsky, or Flynn and Flynn.
The NYS Supreme Court has 100% of the time agreed with the community on this Law.
Now all you newbies know the law, so stop whining like the spoiled brats your parents did not want you to become
As the article says, Of all the bars around Death and Co. is the most sedate and civil. The times that I've been there the music has been a mellow and soft mix of Jazz or old-time blues. Everyone was involved in quiet conversation and no one seemed rowdy or loud. On top of that, the food was terrific. Why pick on that bar?
To pick out Death and Co is so absurd, that it really exposes how corrupt and pathetic our Community Boards have become. And really, as someone who lives in the East Village, have they done a damn thing during the last 5 years to improve the quality of life????? I don't f*in think so. I still see lots of crappy bars, which MYSTERIOUSLY get their liquor licenses and NEVER face a lick of opposition in renewing their licenses. If you though the DOH was a bed of corruption, take a look into the CB's and the SLA.
And of course, one of you idiots will say, why don't you join the Community Board too then?? Take a look at their websites...they've established a self-propagating system of cronyism whereby this nonsense will continue for years to come.....there is no democratic election of community board members. And no way to remove them from office.
Hi Jerky,
You're aptly named.
Too dumb to comprehend the community board's website, too ignorant to learn about the "500 foot" Law, and too dense to understand the dynamics at the SLA.
Indiana beckons you home.
Assh*ole, I'm born and raised here, and the "500 ft" law is something that is only invoked by jerks like yourself who need an excuse to pull them away from masturbating to internet porn. Tell me what I'm missing about CB's....I actually have quite a bit of experience "dealing" with them. Please, go back to Fire Island with you and your fat wife, and shut the f*k up.