More dispatches from "Hell Square" on the Lower East Side, where one victory has been won against one of the many bar scourges of the neighborhood. The Sixth Ward, a typical shitshow-friendly bar on Orchard Street, has been shuttered by the SLA—but not for underage boozing or noise complaints. The bar reportedly got their license revoked for...serving meat when they claimed to be a vegetarian restaurant, according to DNAInfo. Allowing drink-til-you-puke practices is cautiously tolerated but serve a steak without alerting the authorities and WE'LL TAKE EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER LOVED.
The bar allegedly presented itself as a low-key vegetarian restaurant when it applied for its liquor license in 2006 but when an inspector showed up unannounced in October of last year, he was able to order a cheeseburger. Even more damning, the bar promised to close for the night at midnight and not play music, but when the inspector arrived at 1:50 a.m. he observed a large group of people dancing until he left at 3:15 a.m. Owner Edward Sheehan tried the old "I didn't know" defense, which didn't sit well with a judge, who took away the bar's license and slapped Sheehan with a $1,000 fine. Calls to the bar this afternoon went unanswered.
Community advocacy group L.E.S. Dwellers sees this as a huge victory, after the group's previous efforts to shut down the bar had been unsuccessful. Last summer, the group targeted The Sixth Ward's illegal beer garden, which was both a noise annoyance as well as a safety hazard. "After dozens of buildings violations and misrepresentations to the SLA by Sixth Ward, this decision will spare neighbors the raucous behavior and noise that comes from the unauthorized use of the backyard and disorderly, illegal operations overall just as Spring kicks into gear," found Diem Boyd told DNAinfo. One down, 460 to go.
