A Sobering Decree

Entrepreneurs hoping to open the next Bungalow 8 will have to do so off the beaten path. The New York liquor authority recently enacted a moratorium on granting liquor licenses to any new bar, club or cabaret within 500 feet of three existing licensed establishments. In effect, this halts the development of any watering holes in the high-density bar areas that blanket much of lower Manhattan. The decision is an apparent response to growing criticism about a lack of police enforcement with regards to drunk and rowdy crowds, which many claim degrade their neighborhoods. City drinking spots are predictably split on the pronouncement, with licensed venues excited by a lack of future competition and upstarts furious at the legislation. It’s particularly detrimental to those who’ve already paid leases on their forthcoming bars but won’t be able to get a license for the only product people come to buy. Unless they make a successful product transition to fruit punch and wheatgrass shots, the owners may as well drown their sorrows at one of the three bars next-door.