Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will hold a Fri. May 5 hearing on problem bars and lounges and the oversaturation of licensed premises in their host neighborhoods. The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Assembly Hearing Room on the 19th floor of 250 Broadway.
Sponsored by the Assembly Standing Committee on Codes and Commerce, the hearing will take testimony on how New York State may better protect residents in regard to bar operations and licensing by State Liquor Authority.
Governor Pataki last month vetoed Silver’s proposed legislation to create a bad-bar task force within the S.L.A. and the speaker’s proposed budget items of $700,000 for nine new S.L.A. investigators and $250,000 to establish the task force.
Pataki, however, said he would order the S.L.A. to establish a rapid enforcement unit in the agency to investigate serious violations.
