By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
LOWER EAST SIDE — Ludlow Street may be one of the most sought after destinations in the city for nightlife, but that reputation has proven a curse for new operators hoping to land on the popular strip.
A bid by a pair of new restaurants on the street to secure liquor licenses was roundly rejected by Community Board 3 Monday night because the area already counts too many dining and drinking establishments concentrated over a few-block stretch.
Representatives from the Seattle-based fish-and-chips restaurants Pike Street Fish Fry and Neapolitan pizzeria Via Tribunali came before the board seeking beer/wine licenses for their proposed locations at 124 and 122 Ludlow St.
But since the addresses fall in a "resolution area" — a street where the board has placed a freeze on granting new liquor licenses based on the large amount of existing licenses — the operators were informed that their preferred real estate wasn’t fit for their proposal.
The local police precinct “consider[s] that the worst block in the district” for crowding and noise, said committee member Mary Spink, noting that the crush of bars and restaurants has “overwhelmed” the street.
Regardless of the operators’ years of experience in the restaurant business, soundproofing of the premises, and relatively small capacity for patrons, the fact that they picked a well-trodden strip ultimately led to their defeat.
Committee member Herman Hewitt was annoyed that new operators come before the board ignorant of these guidelines, but an attorney for the restaurateurs countered that they nonetheless have a right to pitch their plan to the community.
“Month after month, operators come here in basic disregard for what the community is trying to do," Hewitt said, according to the Lo-Down. "Ask anyone in the neighborhood what they think of all of the bars on every block. Why do you keep coming here?”
The operators were given the chance to describe any “public benefit” their restaurants may serve as a way to get around the street’s restrictions on new liquor licenses, but committee members reminded them that “delicious food is not enough.”
For example, a kosher food restaurant would provide a public benefit to the community, said committee member and nightlife professional Ariel Palitz, but importing fresh ingredients from Italy doesn’t cut it.
“How about an exterminator pizza shop?” she joked, in reference to residents’ complaints about vermin.
