Letters

No Plumm Deal To the Editor: I do not know where John Jeannopoulos got the idea that Sugar and Plumm was "granted a sidewalk café permit prior to opening" (Letter, Sept. 27). As a member of the Business and Consumer Issues Committee of Community Board 7, I can assure him no such thing occurred. The only "permit" considered, and approved, by the committee was Sugar and Plumm's application for a liquor license. In fact, not only did the BCI Committee not pre-approve a sidewalk café for Sugar and Plumm (which it could not do anyway, since no formal plans for it have been submitted to CB7), but quite the opposite: At the public meeting at which the liquor license was approved, the co-chairs merely asked the applicant if they were planning on eventually coming back for a sidewalk café permit. And when the applicant responded in the affirmative, the co-chairs of the committee-acutely aware of the uniquely lengthy frontage of the establishment, and thus the potential for a truly huge sidewalk café-specifically requested that Sugar and Plumm not seek a permit for the entire length of the frontage, but for only a portion thereof, and the applicant agreed. Mr. Jeannopoulos is equally incorrect in his suggestion that CB7, or committees thereof, make decisions without community input. Indeed, he is well aware that all board and committee business is done at open public meetings, the schedule for which can be found at CB7's website. As a longtime Upper West Sider who has interacted regularly with CB7 for over 30 years, including being a member of the board at various times, I can assure Mr. Jeannopoulos that CB7 takes its commitment to the community very seriously on all issues-from land use and zoning to transportation, from parks and libraries to health and human services, and from preservation to sidewalk cafés. -Ian Alterman Upper West Side