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Barclays Center Scores Liquor License With 1 A.M. Curfew For VIPs
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 29, 2012
Modified Aug 29, 2012
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SHoP Architects
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 29, 2012
Modified Aug 29, 2012
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It wasn't a slam dunk, but the Barclays Center owners must be feeling pretty good about their hearing with the State Liquor Authority today. The arena's neighbors had begged the SLA to stop selling booze at halftime, not just at the end of the third quarter, as NBA rules mandate. But the SLA declined to cut off sports fans earlier, and granted the arena a liquor license—with one slight modification.
Despite strenuous objection from Barclays' reps, the SLA decided to issue the arena a license requiring them to stop serving to 1,800 VIPs at 1 a.m., instead of the 2 a.m. cutoff that Barclays wanted for its fancy folk. Although the arena anticipates "very, very few" events will actually go to 2 a.m., an attorney for the arena insisted, "The problem from our perspective is that one hour is very important in terms of attracting events to the venue."
Yet the only event the arena has scheduled past midnight is an electronica show, and during the hearing arena operators said they'd voluntarily decided to cut the booze off at midnight. (MDMA sales will continue until the event ends.) Still, lawyers for Barclays tried to argue that they might lose out on late night events with the 1 a.m. cut-off. To which SLA Commissioner Dennis Rosen replied, "You're sort of making my point. You did that [set an earlier cut-off], and didn't lose the event." Derp.
So, for now at least, 1 a.m. it is. The SLA told the arena reps they could come back after some time had passed to get the curfew extended if they show everyone they're a good neighbor. But the neighbors are not going to be easily won over. "The arena is a monstrosity to begin with," Boerum Hill resident Wanda Fleck told The Local in April. "But with a liquor license, there will be drunk guys vomiting and peeing in the street." In Brooklyn? NEVER! [Atlantic Yards Report]
Tagged
barclays center
booze
brooklyn
liquor
liquor license
prospect heights
sla
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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