BUSHWICK — As the start of autumn brings newly appointed members to community boards around Brooklyn, Bushwick's Community Board 4 isn't just getting a fresh face, it's adding a whole new point of view — a bar and music venue owner.
The owner of soon-to-open bar Radio, Tari Sunkin, was appointed to the board this summer by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, after she applied to join the local body.
"My main motivation was that I felt it's important to participate in your community," said Sunkin, 41, who also plans to start a Bushwick-themed Internet radio station from her bar and to hold live concerts.
Sunkin is the first bar owner to join Bushwick's current community board, other members said. Her entrance follows Community Board 4's new controversial rule that establishments stop serving liquor at midnight on Sundays, but Sunkin maintained that she would not try to change the provision.
"I'm not particularly going to change it but I also don't agree," she said previously of the curfew, which goes to the state for the ultimate decision since the community board only has an advisory role.
Sunkin noted that she did not join the public safety committee (which handles liquor licenses) because it already had plenty members, so she joined the sanitation, economic development and land use committees.
Community Board 4 member Deborah Brown said Sunkin's new membership followed the shifts in the neighborhood, as more and more businesses opened and owners wanted to have a voice in Bushwick.
"Bushwick is changing as we know, and a lot of new businesses in the community are bars, restaurants and gyms," said Brown, a local artist and curator who said the board was "a way to have their opinions taken into account and voiced in a more official way."
Brown said "a person who's a business owner is a good candidate" for the board, though she noted that board members are supposed to vote for the community, rather than for their specific interests.
The district manager of Community Board 4 did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment, nor did a spokesman for the Brooklyn borough president's office.
The first full board meeting for Bushwick Community Board 4 is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at 195 Linden St.
