New York, NY: On September 16, Community Board 3 of the Lower East Side and East Village met with residents to discuss the filthy streets, nonstop noise, and disruptive behavior among the intoxicated in these lively neighborhoods.
This ongoing debate is fueled by a growing concern that the Lower East Side has become oversaturated with establishments that serve alcohol. In fact, the 10003 area code has 115 liquor licenses per resident, the second highest in the nation. One of the many propositions of Community Board 3 is to create a policy aimed at restricting the distribution of new liquor licenses in residential areas.
The policy will demand that no liquor license be issued in areas with “persistent and numerous complaints regarding increased noise as well as increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic”. The policymakers want to work with the New York State Liquor Authority to deny new licenses in areas “where the existing number of operating licensed establishments within five hundred feet exceeds three, and where the increasingly deleterious effects of existing licensed nighttime businesses on the quality of life of New York State residents living within those areas.” Despite these measures, this policy has done near nothing to stop the late-night partying downtown.
“My block used to be a quiet place, but now it has been completely demolished and rebuilt by the New York nightlife ‘scene’,” said S. Verrochio, East Village resident of 34 years. “On the weekends, I can hear people screaming at all hours of the night, and let me tell you, if I find a pile of vomit on my stoop for the billionth time I will go crazy.”
However, there was only one attendee at the Community Board 3 meeting that had not lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years. So perhaps this is an issue of age? The Lower East Side has seen a lot of changes over the last few decades. What was once a haven of cheap rents for working class New Yorkers has now become a 20-something playground for young and trendy Manhattanites. In fact, close to 40 percent of all residents in the neighborhood are under the age of 30, and 90 percent do not have children. Without a doubt, these demographics play a part in shaping the landscape for the plethora of after-hour rendezvous.
“I love living in this neighborhood”, says Andrea Miller, a junior studying at NYU. “As for the heaps of bars and clubs, it doesn’t bother me. I pay a thousand dollars a month for a reason… I want to be where the action is!”
A regional survey conducted by the New York City Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene agrees that downtown needs to clean its act up. The survey concluded that 28 percent of residents in the East Village admitted to binge drinking, the highest percentage in all of New York, and that residents in the Lower East Side were 35 percent more likely to binge drink as opposed to the rest of the city.
“I guess it just comes with the territory… literally,” said Miller.
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