Booze News

Will Williamsburg Impose a Liquor-License Moratorium?

Brooklyn 11211 reports that Community Board 1’s Executive Committee has “voted unanimously to institute a moratorium on new liquor licenses in Williamsburg, Greenpoint and the rest of North Brooklyn. The vote was a response to what the leaders of CB1 see as an over saturation of liquor licenses in the area.” The Board’s Public Safety Committee apparently revisited the issue yesterday without voting, and the final decision will be made when the full board meets next Tuesday. A receptionist at Community Board 1 declined to tell us whether the matter is under discussion, but if true, this could mean the sort of blanket rejections we’ve seen with Manhattan’s Community Board 3, which has imposed moratorium areas covering certain parts of Ludlow, Orchard, Rivington, and Houston Streets, as well as a good part of Alphabet City. Of course, the State Liquor Authority and not the Community Board has the final say in who gets a license, but restaurateurs who have considered it much easier to snag a liquor license in Williamsburg may want to take note.

Williamsburg To Go Dry? [Brooklyn 11211]

Will Williamsburg Impose a Liquor-License Moratorium?