Why You So Winey?

For time immemorial, New York City neighborhoods have been battling it out over the rights of businesses to sell liquor vs. the local residents' quality of life concerns. Back in the day, I guarantee there was some gaggle of cockamamie Temperance chicks repeatedly flapping their gums down on the Brooklyn docks about the ills of liquor.

These days, the Lower East Side & Meatpacking Districts are constant battlegrounds between drunkard-catering businesses & puke-hating residents. OBVIOUSLY, every time another business is granted a license to sell alcohol, we all get a little bit closer to hellfire & brimstone. Enough is enough.

In Park Slope, ever since vanquishing the nuisance, bottle-poppin' club that would've been Kemistry Lounge, we've turned our attentions toward the real threat--boutique wine & spirit shops. Late last month, the State Liquor Authority refused to grant a retail liquor license to Amaro Wine & Spirits, one such business that's trying to open up in the former Lucia space on 5th Ave between 1st & Garfield. The reason for the SLA's denial? Last-minute opposition by two nearby wine stores apparently worried about competition.

Click to read more ...