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LES Bar Crackdown Now Extends To Babies


By

Garth Johnston

Published Jul 11, 2011

Modified Jul 11, 2011


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No babies allowed!

 


By

Garth Johnston

Published Jul 11, 2011

Modified Jul 11, 2011


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The war on underage drinking on the Lower East Side has taken an interesting turn. With bars being shut down for serving minors left and right (and some of them going to court over it) you never can be too careful. And so The Magician, once "Blogger High's Peach Pit," has taken its vigilance to an interesting extreme.

Eater today brings this reader report regarding the LES staple:

"we went to the Magician on Friday afternoon for their awesome happy hour (1/2 priced drinks!) with our 14 week old son and were the first and only people in the bar. The bartender politely told us that due to the NYPD's crackdown on underage drinking, the owner has decided to ban all children from the bar. This isn't just checking everyone's ID under the age of 50, it's any and all kids. I can understand teenagers not being welcome, or maybe saying no kids with their parents after 8:00, but this was a newborn in a carrier at 5 PM in an empty bar. This crackdown has gone too far!"

Hey, if it worked for Park Slope bars...

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, restaurants are banning kids too. But not because of the po-po. Instead at least one Pennsylvania joint has instituted a new policy in which children under six are simply not allowed into the restaurant. Why? An owner explains that while there is "nothing wrong with babies," the fact remains that you "can't control their volume." And screaming babies were scaring away his customers. May this be the start of a beautiful trend.

Tagged

banning children

LES

Lower East Side

manhattan

nypd

the magician

underage drinking


Garth Johnston

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