Bottoms up
Summertime revelers rejoice — you can legally drink outside in the South Street Seaport. The question of whether the open-container law applies in the Seaport’s outdoor plaza had been debated for several months by Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee.
The issue surfaced when an outdoor beer cart applied for a liquor license renewal. Not wanting to approve something illegal, the board sought guidance from the local police precinct. This month, the verdict came in — since the Seaport is leased as a whole by General Growth Properties, the police consider it to be private property. Therefore outdoor imbibing is legal, just as it would be in an outdoor café.
Bouley gets fried
People may be free to drink outside in the Seaport, but if C.B. 1 has its way, they won’t be dining outside at Bouley Bakery. Upset with David Bouley’s behavior in the Tribeca neighborhood, the board voted to deny the celebrity chef’s application to renew his sidewalk café license on Duane St.
At issue was the allegation that Bouley has long violated his current sidewalk café permit by having too many outdoor tables and keeping the tables too close to the edge of the sidewalk. Board members also recalled older slights.
“He hasn’t met a law that he particularly likes to follow,” said board member Julie Nadel, whose condo has battled Bouley.
The board vote was mixed, denying the application 27 to 13 with two abstentions. Those in favor of renewing the license argued that the board was being too nitpicky about the size of Bouley’s current café. The majority, however, said that Bouley’s repeated violations of his current license demonstrates a pattern of community disregard that must be dealt with.
Whether Bouley Bakery actually loses its sidewalk café remains to be seen, since the Department of Consumer Affairs will have the final say on the renewal application.
‘Shout out’ delivery
Alyssa Polack, former founder and principal of P.S. 150, told us to send a “shout out” to all of the parents, kids and teachers she misses from her Tribeca days.
“Life has just been really different here — I miss the familiarity that New York holds for me — I have so many professional and personal relationships there,” she said by telephone from Minneapolis.
Polack left Tribeca two years ago after her husband was hired as editor-in-chief of Milkweed Editions, a literary publisher.
Two years later, she is enjoying her time with her children and the beautiful Minnesota landscape. However, she is looking for work in the next school year.
“I’m not looking to be a principal again right now,” she said. “I want to either work as a consultant or work with teachers really focusing on professional development. Once I find that, life will be close to perfect here.”
Beaver covers up
The William Beaver House, Andre Balazs’ new condo project at the corner of William and Beaver Sts., has decided to put its clothes back on.
The Beaver tower made a big splash with its initial marketing campaign, which featured eye-assaulting yellow banners, a martini-gulping cartoon mascot named William Beaver and dozens of renderings of half-naked imaginary residents. However, after the building attracted higher-than-expected numbers of families and couples, the project decided to tone down its flashy Web site (www.williambeaver.com).
Now, the building renderings are mostly free of nude cartoons and the site offers serious, adult-type features like a mortgage and tax calculator. Fans of Balazs’ more over-the-top efforts should take heart, though — the Billy Beaver mascot remains part of the project, as do the building’s in-house bar, movie theater and glass-bottomed hot tub.
Wall St. goes Pinko
There was no promotional gelato in signature colors as Hermes secured for its Financial District opening last week. There was no round-the-block line, as the iPhone purveying Apple store in Soho developed this week.
Without frenzy or frosty treats, high-end clothier Thomas Pink still managed to open its new Financial District location at 63 Wall St. on Monday. The more sedate debut was probably fitting for a British chain best known for its impeccably tailored button-down shirts. The new store will also carry womenswear and, compared to Hermes’ $300 versions, the Thomas Pink silk scarves are a practical steal at $195.
