At a meeting last night, the Bean asked Community Board 3’s S.L.A. & D.C.A. Licensing to support its application for beer and wine licenses at two forthcoming locations. It was successful in one instance, but not in the other.
Ike Escava, co-owner of the coffee shop that is famously being replaced by a Starbucks at its former First Avenue location, said customers had been asking for wine at The Bean for a while, but their previous landlord had not allowed it.
Alexandra Militano, the chairwoman of the committee, voted along with other committee members to support a beer and wine license at a location at Second Avenue and Third Street, which is still under construction, but not before chiding Mr. Escava for failing to come with more community support. “I’m a little disheartened,” she said.
The notion of beer and wine at another in-the-works location, at First Avenue and Ninth Street, was opposed by Judith Zaborowski, a resident who had earlier spoken out against Diablo Royale’s license renewal, and Kate Kubert, a member of the Ninth Street Block Association.
“We have no problem with a coffee shop going there, but the neighborhood, as you know, is well saturated,” said Ms. Kubert. “I don’t really see the point of having another licensed premises. And I really have an issue with the 2 a.m. closing. On the weekends it’s a corridor of drinking establishments. We get awakened frequently, on the weekend especially.”
After Ms. Militano agreed that “there is a plethora of what they’re requesting” already in existence, the board voted to recommend that the State Liquor Authority deny the application.
Mr. Escava later exchanged numbers with block association members. “Maybe we’ll open [the First Avenue location] first,” he told The Local. “If we open, they’ll see we’re not going to be a rowdy place.”