The Return Of The Roxy

Is the return of the Roxy imminent? According to concerns citizens in the nearby neighborhood, the answer is a resounding yes. Originally a warehouse converted into a roller rink, the Roxy converted itself into a full on nightclub in the mid 1980's, and became a focal point for the beginnings of hip hop in NYC. The Roxy powered into the 90's, hosting John Blair's famously gay Roxy Saturdays, but eventually closed for good in 2007 after the building was sold to residential developers. With development plans stalled, the Roxy attempted a 2008 comeback which was derailed. Now the Roxy is ready to try again, but Chelsea residents are already signaling they will fight this license application to the bitter end. Local business owners are emailing their customers and neighbors to warn them about next month's CB4 licensing hearing, talking up how the neighborhood has changed for the better and the Roxy no longer fits in. This should be a fun one.

Community Boards in Chaos

Rejoice, DBTH readers, for the shit continues to hit the fan in New York's ridiculous Community Board system. First up, we have Butcher Bay's legal assault on Community Board 3, which argues that their flat denial of an upgrade to their beer and wine license was arbitrary and capricious. Next, Page Six gets the scoop this morning that Lisa Daglian was finally booted from her throne as co-chair of the Business & Licenses Committee of Community Board 4, after years of literally making would be club owners kneel at her feet for application approval. These are just the latest in a string of problems coming from the City and State's arcane application process. Our suggestion is to scrap the entire system, and put power in a City agency to give an up or down approval of a full liquor license based on simple criteria. If you are a restaurant, do you comply with X, Y, Z? If yes, congrats. Bars and nightclubs would have different criteria, but follow the same process. Let's remove this matter from the State and Community Board process, and help entrepreneurs get going.