Considering how often we hear about Community Boards shooting down small bars, let alone huge ones, the fact that Community Board 12's Economic Development Committee just gave approval for a massive, 30,000-square-foot eatery in Washington Heights is a bit of a surprise. Whether it was a pleasant one, however, depends on your perspective. more ›

To call the United States Postal Service cash-strapped is something of an understatement. But as the government agency slouches towards obsolescence, an interesting new money source has bubbled to the surface: booze. And it makes sense. Because who wouldn't like their mailman to bring them a box of wine with their bills? more ›

Did you know that if you traverse a labyrinth of back alleys in Queenooklyn, pull the tree branch that looks most like a lever, descend the staircase into the catacombs, and rap six times on the metal door, you'll find a room of people DRINKING IN THE DAYTIME? It's true, people do in fact ingest alcoholic beverages from the hours of noon until 5 p.m. (some say it can happen before noon but we've never seen it), and we know it's true, because it's in the New York Times. more ›

Last night Community Boards 2 and 6 in Brooklyn held a joint meeting to discuss the liquor license for the Barclays Center over the Atlantic Yards. And, as with everything regarding the future home of the Nets, it was a long slog. The meeting took two-and-a-half hours and ended with little resolution—despite the fact that nobody seriously thinks the State Liquor Authority is going to reject the application. more ›

Dude, you know what kids these days really need? Wines marketed in a language they can understand. Twentysomethings have their social media-inspired cocktails, so it only makes sense that a company would start branding wines with names culled from internet slang. Everybody, give a derisive welcome to TXT Cellers, the proud distributor of such boozes as WTF!!! pinot noir, OMG!!! chardonnay and CYA!!! shiraz. Basically, the bastard lovechild between of Two-buck Chuck and Texts From Last Night. more ›

An obscure, recently arrested, former television actor named George Clooney is getting ready to launch a line of tequila with Rande Gerber, the husband of a similarly unfamous woman named Cindy Crawford. And who knows, those crazy kids just might make this happen. Worked for Dan Ackroyd, didn't it? more ›

What's more depressing than paying $19 for a speciality cocktail? Paying $19 for a cocktail "inspired" by a social media website. Hyperallergic's editor Hrag Vartanian took this photo of the Mandarin Oriental's "Like Page" (GET IT) that features beauties like the "sipadvisor" and "brbon tumblr." But these all sound terrible, so check out our own internet-inspired creations. more ›

Though it has seen a heck of a dip in ridership this winter, the East River Ferry continues to make its daily trips across the tidal strait while its owners consider ways to lure and keep new riders. They've already added Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee in the mornings, so why not snacks and, maybe, a bar? more ›

Children, constantly ruining things for the rest of us! Smoking is much rarer on the screen now because seeing pretty people puffing apparently makes kids want to smoke. And now a new study is trying to persuade us that watching stars get wasted with no consequences is turning our nation's impressionable youth into a bunch of alcoholics (what, they didn't see Knocked Up?). Soon grown-ups won't be allowed to see grown-ups having fun in their own entertainments. more ›

Raise a glass to the SLA's new interactive website, which features a map showing all the liquor licenses held by business owners in New York State, as well as all the pending liquor licenses and previous violations. The map, which also shows where churches and schools are located, lets users search active and pending licenses by address, company and business name. The FUTURE! Here's the link to the website, which is part of a major technology overhaul for the SLA, undertaken with $369,000 in funding secured by State Senator Daniel Squadron. more ›

Neighborhood NIMBYs are about to get a new tool in their arsenal. DNAinfo reports that the New York State Liquor Authority is getting ready to launch an interactive map this month that will let you see what your local bars have been up to (along with any bar in the State). Better than having to file a FOIL-request just to find out if anyone else has been whining about that noisy bar on the block! more ›

Damn you Starbucks! Just as the coffee giant is off raising prices, it goes and starts making plans to sell a lot more booze. But not in the Northeast. Yet. more ›

Did the latest drinking fad start in Brooklyn? No, we're not talking about that horrible tampon-vodka thing. We're talking about Teboozing ("To get down on one knee," à la Tim Tebow, "and drink, no matter what is going on around you. Knee down, drink up!"). Peter Mishu, a 24-year-old University of Tennessee grad now living in Brooklyn, tells the Daily News today that he invented it. He does not, however, say if he would like a medal or a monument. (We look forward to seeing a Kickstarter for that any minute now.) more ›

Hangovers keep you lean, mean, and honest. They punish you for your hubris and force the necessary introspection that comes after a night of self-abuse. The worst hangovers steel you for your next worst hangover—and for New Yorkers who have two or more drinks on a given evening, they're part of life [pdf]. Given that there is medicine to keep you studying, copulating, and growing hair, why not a potion for hangovers? If only it were that simple. In the interest of the most august journalism, we tested several different hangover "cures" so that you may be better prepared. more ›

While Veterans Day honored all those who served the US military, let us not forget those who have fought in the trenches of the international liquor wars. At the Intrepid Museum's holiday ceremony yesterday, a Times reporter noticed that a 440-foot yacht docked upriver was stealing the show. It's "the first private vessel to moor at the city-owned passenger terminal, where Cunard ocean liners frequently put in" and pays $2,000 a day to do so. Who owns the yacht? Yuri Shefler, the head of the SPI Group that makes Stolichnaya. Let's see you make it to San Tropez before happy hour, Svedka robot. Bot or Not, indeed. more ›

This month, we heard the good news that Matthew Viragh, owner of Williamsburg's Nitehawk Cinema, had been successful in his fight to overturn a state law barring alcohol in movie theaters. But now it seems you may be able to bring your booze into the movie theaters at large chain cinemas in the city sooner than you think! more ›

A group of 13 brave souls visited 200 bars in 10 hours, breaking the all-time pub crawl Guinness World Record of 170 set by a group in Chicago, the Daily News reports. Completely defeating the purpose of bar crawling, one member of the group drank a half-pint of beer at each establishment. No word on whether the Guinness World Record committee will acknowledge Randy Daufman, who yesterday consumed 200 beers in one bar, and whose ex-wife is apparently a "no good, thieving whore." more ›

Staying holed up in your apartment for 24 hours watching 30 Rock reruns just so you can fill out your OK Cupid profile is just as bad (or worse) than braving Hurricane Irene. Fortunately, there are establishments across town that have refused to buckle under pressure and let storm-terrorists win. Here are a few places that claim they'll be open during the deluge. more ›

This weekend, the booze-friendly city of New Orleans played host to shakers and stirrers from the world over at the annual Tales of the Cocktail festival, and New York bars racked up some top-shelf awards at the Spirited Awards ceremony. more ›

In a town where you can pretty much buy whatever the hell you want, is it shocking that one can still pick up the zesty alco-caffeinated version of our fallen friend Four Loko? The Local East Village reports that you can still find the banned version in neighborhood bodegas. Also still available in the East Village: heroin. But only one of those substances turns your poop blue! more ›

Aspiring actor, midtown bartender and Ed Sullivan Theater-crasher Jimmy Whittemore says he regrets getting tanked and bashing the glass doors of Letterman's Late Show home. "I'm ashamed. I'm still bothered," Whittemore tells the Daily News, "I just want to apologize to the theater people." After hitting the town and the bottle for a night of karaoke, he claims he had no idea what had happened until he was arrested. "I just wanted to go out and do karaoke…Next thing I remember is laying down on the floor, surrounded by cops." As if you needed another reason: karaoke is evil. more ›

In the Golden Era of Netflix, the good old-fashioned video rental store is dying out—but alcohol might help! Williamsburg movie shoppe Videology (who gave us their Staff Picks a few weeks ago) is adding a bar and screening room, in the attempt to convince customers that there's more to life than instant streaming. They do say bars are recession-proof! more ›