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Bryant Park, the Beer Garden?
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 18, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 18, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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So remember the discussion about the overly commercial nature of the Bryant Park? Well the story is about to get more interesting now that Community Board 5 has nixed a plan to sell booze out of two kiosks in the park.
The idea was pretty simple: 'Wichcraft LLC, run by "Tom Colicchio and Jeffery Zurofsky of Craft and Craftbar fame," already runs two kiosks in the park and simply wanted to add wine and beer to their menu (liquor is already served at the Bryant Park Cafe but "that's not really in the park."). Simple in concept, hard in execution. Since the board doesn't want to have another area of the park cordoned off just for drinkers ("another part of a public park becoming private") and they don't want people wandering around with their booze ("our parklands are meant to offer needed respite from urban life") the only solution CB5 seemed able to agree on was rejecting the booze all together. Sigh.
We're just not at all sure we agree with the Boards decision. Part of the charm of the refurbished Bryant Park has always been the myriad things you can do there. We doubt many people are going to go to the park just to get retarded, though of course it will happen from time to time, and that fear is not reason enough to not do it. Which is to say, when we were working in Times Square we would have lurved it if we had been able to get a beer while eating our lunch in the park (especially now that McHales is closing). Agree, disagree?
Photograph Bryant Park from Positive-Negative.
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