State Liquor Authority, Manhattan Bar Face Legal Battle Over Plan to Open Lower East Side Business – New York Daily News

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The last call for a Lower East Side bar will come before its first drink is served if local residents have what they want.

A 12-page lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court filed Friday by the Eldridge Street Block Association argued that the Manhattan neighborhood was already teeming with bars, clubs and restaurants and was seeking to block the planned opening of business. nascent named Moneygoround.

“This neighborhood has more than enough places to eat and drink,” reads the court filing. “This block cannot tolerate another drinking establishment…Allowing another to open would have a dramatic effect on the block.”

Court papers included affidavits from half a dozen local residents strongly opposed to opening another bar on Eldridge St., with the court filing asking authorities to revoke the business’ liquor license.

“My wife and I deserve better for our health, safety and well-being,” wrote bouldering association member Adrian Abey Gines. “So awarding another license is definitely not in our best interests, nor in the community’s.”

The lawsuit alleges that the State Liquor Authority “failed to enforce the substantive public interest warrants of the law and denied residents the procedural warrants of a fair public hearing” before granting a license for the opening. from the spot at 235 Eldridge St.

An email sent Saturday for comment from the State Liquor Authority was not immediately returned. But Moneygoround managing partner Maria Devitt disputed the complaint, noting that she was a longtime resident of the East Village.

“We had tremendous enthusiasm and support from the majority of neighborhood neighbors,” she said. “We hope to continue to serve our community and that the courts see fit to protect the rights of small businesses, which are the heart and soul of New York City.”

But Meral Bozkurt, who moved to the neighborhood in 1980, said in her affidavit that the area has long suffered from booming nightlife.

“Bars and lounges have a long history of havoc, with documented criminal activity, nighttime noise, sleepless nights for residents,” Bozkurt wrote. “The general disregard for quality of life issues in our bloc… (It) is getting worse as more and more licenses (are) granted.”

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