UPDATE June 6, 2017: The liquor license applicant’s 500 foot rule hearing has been rescheduled to Thursday, June 29 at 11 am. The public hearing will be held on the fourth floor of 317 Lenox Avenue in Manhattan.
The stretch of Beard Street that runs between Van Brunt and Conover is home to multiple families with children.
Since Sandy, new businesses have crept into the neighborhood’s special mixed use district and forced the quiet block to cope with traffic, noise, and litter. Residents now face a fresh threat: a late-night bar on their home turf.
The owner of Greenpoint brewpub Keg & Lantern Brewing Company has applied for a liquor license to open a similar establishment on 158 Beard Street.
Beard Street Block Association member Allen Glatter has lived on the street for 20 years. He said the addition of another neighborhood bar – this time on his own block – would be inappropriate.
“We have a bar crawl as it is,” said Glatter. “Particularly during the weekends, it’s almost unbearable when you come out of your house on Saturday morning and see the garbage and the trash… When you’re woken up at 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. I’m not going to tell anybody not to have a good time, but we feel [multiple bars] have a largely negative impact on our quality of life.”
Brooklyn Crab, Hometown Bar-B-Q, and Sunny’s – all on-premise liquor license spots – appear to flank the block within 500 feet. “I know we’re in a special mixed use zone, but it feels like we’re kind of becoming this entertainment zone with these themed establishments here,” Glatter added.
According to Glatter, the proximity of bars have increasingly contributed to traffic, noise, littering, and public urination. While Beard Street residents have cooperated with such incoming businesses in the past, Glatter feels less inclined to cooperate this time around.
Commercial photography studio Red Productions Inc. sits next door to the potential brewpub location on Beard Street.
“It seems like a strange place to put this kind of establishment,” wrote Steve Hellerstein, Red Productions’ owner. “I have to wonder why they want to be here. Don’t they know Red Hook goes into hibernation October through April? The local community alone is not enough to keep a place like this open. They’ll have to pull from elsewhere.”
The logistics
State Liquor Authority (SLA) received the restaurant-brewer license application for 158 Beard Street Brewing, whose trade name is Narrow Water Brewing, on May 23. The principal associated with the application is Kieran Breen, the founder of Killowen Construction who also owns Keg & Lantern.
A representative from Killowen Construction told Glatter that Breen’s new establishment would likely resemble Keg & Lantern and have a sports bar vibe. The Greenpoint brewpub, which operates everyday from 11 am until 4 am, has an on-site brewery and operates with a full bar and kitchen.
New York’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Law requires a hearing for any on-premises liquor license applicants located within 500 feet of at least three existing establishments with on-premise liquor licenses.
The public 500 foot hearing for 158 Beard Street Brewing will convene on Thursday, June 29, on the fourth floor of 317 Lenox Avenue in Manhattan.
According to a notice from SLA, the June 8 hearing will include testimonies from the applicant and a representative from Brooklyn Community Board 6. CB6 must submit their official position in writing.
CB6’s Permits and Licenses Committee set up a May 22 meeting open to public comment, but the meeting has been postponed.
On-premise liquor license applicants must give the community board 30-day advance notice of their intent to apply. The 158 Beard St. Brewing Company complied.
The location is the site of former Dell’s Maraschino Cherries facility.
As of press time, Killowen Construction had not responded to the Star-Revue’s request for comment.
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