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Winnie's Bar Successor Gets Community Board Support for Liquor License

By Lisha Arino | January 12, 2016 2:45pm
 Winnie's Bar, located at 104 Bayard St., closed last year after 28 years in business.
Winnie's Bar, located at 104 Bayard St., closed last year after 28 years in business.
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DNAinfo/Lisha Arino

EAST VILLAGE — The owners of a new restaurant slated for the former Winnie’s Bar space are one step closer to winning the community board’s support for a full liquor license.

Community Board 3’s SLA Committee passed a resolution supporting a liquor license at 104 Bayard St. Monday night, despite opposition from several local residents, who feared the new restaurant — tentatively named Winnie’s after the old neighborhood dive bar, which closed last year — would bring noise and rowdy crowds to the area.

“What we don’t need in Chinatown is another hipster bar,” said one speaker, who described himself as a lifelong neighborhood resident.

Mateusz Lilpop and Benedict dos Remedios, managers of the restaurant Dudley's on Orchard, along with El Rey’s head chef Gerardo Gonzalez, said they were not planning on opening a bar, but rather a “food focused” establishment that would serve Latin American dishes “with a Pan-Asian” twist all day, from breakfast until late at night.

The owners also plan to invest in soundproofing for the space, which they hope to open later this year, Lilpop told DNAinfo New York.

“We’re just looking to open up an establishment for the community,” he said at the meeting, pointing to the owners’ experience at Dudley’s as proof that they would not be a disruptive neighbor.

The eatery, which has been open about three years, operates a “safe haven” for residents in the bar-saturated neighborhood that has not received any recent 311 complaints, Lilpop said. A handful of supporters, many of them customers, also said they did not have any issues with the establishment.

Committee member Andrew Chase also vouched for Lilpop and dos Remedios, saying he was familiar with the business.

“These guys are very hands on and they’re there all the time running the business and I see it every day,” he said. “I feel like these guys are sensitive to their neighbors.”

The owners' plans didn't placate some opposing residents, who also took issue with what they saw as the restaurant’s appropriation of the former bar’s name, saying that the bar’s owner Winnie Mui — who attended the meeting — did not know of or agree to the use of her name.

“That is her brand. You can’t just come in and take somebody else’s brand name,” said community activist and CB3 board member Karlin Chan, who accused the owners of naming their bar Winnie’s to draw old customers to the establishment.

“You’re trying to revive a dive bar so just by using her name, your true intentions are revealed,” he added.

But the owners disputed the claim, saying they decided to name the bar Winnie’s and include karaoke as way to honor the space’s heritage.

“We’re not looking to do a dive bar at Winnie’s,” Lilpop said.

After hearing from the community at the meeting, however, they were willing to reconsider renaming the establishment, he said.

The SLA Committee ultimately decided to support the liquor license application with stipulations, like closing at 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Community Board 3 will vote on the resolution during its Jan. 26 full board meeting, although its role in the licensing process is only advisory. The State Liquor Authority will ultimately decide whether or not to grant the liquor license.