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Precinct meeting about the shooting on Franklin St. and some thoughts

Last night, at the monthly 94th precinct community council meeting, most of the discussion was about the recent shooting on Franklin St.

Miss Heather has video of the meeting.

She also summarized the main concerns voices, and I will steal her summary:

* The proliferation of bars on Franklin Street.
* The increase in noise and disorderly activity which has come as a result of the previous.
* Dissatisfaction with the 94th Precinct’s response to complaints.
* Allegations that 311 is fudging the number of complaints.

Local activist Phil DePaolo circulated this email on the subject:

Now we see how bars have transformed our community. Small businesses that served local residents have been forced out of their storefronts unable to meet high commercial rents that landlords know bars can afford. And since new bars often attract their clientele from outside the neighborhood, there is no local market cap on their number or viability. New bars attract nonlocal patrons, those patrons attract more outsiders and more new bars pop up to meet the boundless demand as the entire neighborhood becomes a scene, a lively scene, but also noisy, congested and sometimes dangerous to our community.

Neighborhoods thrive on responsible development and bars are a useful part of that development. But the bar scene has gotten out of hand. It is forcing on us an unbalanced, nonlocal and precarious economic base that compromises the quality of life for residents and depreciates the business value of current bars. Our neighborhood residents and businesses and bar owners alike needs a cap on the number of bars per block. I proposed this during the rezoning.

Notice that the State Liquor Authority is now loosening its interpretation of how many bars are allowed by right within a 500 foot radius. It used to be that opening a bar within 500 feet of any 3 full liquor licenses required a special hearing at the SLA, consultation with the local community board and evidence of public benefit. The new interpretation will allow many more bars to slip in without that special hearing, consultation or evidence.

The new interpretation of the SLA's 500 foot rule is that there must be 3 or more licenses of the same class. However, community boards do not have information regarding the classes of existing licenses to be able to make informed decisions.

The State Liquor Authority awards liquor licenses to bars in New York City without regard for local economic diversity or residential quality of life. These local concerns should lie within the purview of local governance, not an unaccountable state authority. To return local concerns to local governance, The New York Community Council will ask every City Council candidate to take a clear stand in writing, on developing new City Council zoning laws to restrict the proliferation of bars in our community, promote economic diversity and preserve the quality of residential life.

The bar problem may not seem as deep an issue as affordable housing or quality education, but it is an issue that affects residents personally and immediately, the kind of issue that brings residents to the voting booth.

Our neighborhood, long prized for its diversity of peoples, cultures and arts, has many challenges: rampant poverty, homelessness, violence and drugs, rampant gentrification, displacement of long term residents and businesses and now a bar scene that is out of control. Isn't it time we took in hand the future of our neighborhood? We must ask City Council candidates, where do you stand on zoning limits for new bars?

I think this is something we, as a community can work on. As Phil noted, asking City Council candidates where they stand is key. Also, speaking up at CB1 meetings and complaining to the state liquor board about these issues. You can use the links on the right to contact local officials. I also think we need to find a way to involve building owners in this. How can we make it more attractive to them to nurture small/local businesses that serve the community, rather than pushing those businesses out in favor of bars, cellphone stores, and the like?

Image by Ukdenners, via a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.