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If you want to see Chinese takeout at 2 a.m. on Harvard Ave., you better get yourself to a meeting next week
By adamg on Wed, 10/14/2009 - 12:46pm
Boston Licensing Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski said today he would oppose a request to extend the hours of a new Chinese take-out place on Harvard Avenue from midnight to 3 a.m. unless he hears support from nearby residents.
The board put off any action on a request from Unique Chinese, 145 Harvard Ave., until after a meeting next week of the Allston Civic Association. The association meets at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Honan Allston Library, 300 North Harvard St., and has the restaurant's hours on its agenda.
Only the owner attended and civic-association President Paul Berkeley attended today's licensing board hearing. The owner said he needs the extension to be able to compete with several nearby restaurants - whose menus he held up - that are open until at least 3 a.m.
Pokaski, however, said somebody's esire to make more money is not enough to warrant extending the licensed hours and that the board has traditionally opposed early-morning service because of noise and police issues - unless neighbors support the idea. In July, the board voted to let the South Street Diner, near South Station, stay open around the clock after nearby residents said the diner was one of the reasons they moved to the area.
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whut?
Boston Licensing Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski said today he would oppose a request to extend the hours of a new Chinese take-out place on Harvard Avenue from midnight to 3 a.m. unless he hears support from nearby residents.
That's some special logic. People are much more likely to show up if they DO have a problem with the place. If they don't care, they won't come. If they don't care, then there is no problem with it!
Why the hell do we need to set hours on a license for selling take-out anyway?
regulation regulation regulation
its just more of the same old boston political b.s. machine
this licensing board is a joke
God forbid someone wants to get some chinese food at 2 am we have to to jump through all these hoops first to allow it
Hoops? You call those hoops?
Guy has to make his case before a civic association. Is that really that onerous?
what is the case?
the guy wants to sell chinese food after midnight what's the big deal?
why does he have to justify
why does he have to justify his existence? If there is a valid case that his business have some kind of limitation on it, shouldn't those interested parties be saddled with the burden of proof?
as a matter of fact
we should be thanking the guy for willing to stay up late and make tasty chinese food for those of us who are hungry and want to eat it.
instead we give him grief
Other restaurants open till 3?
"The owner said he needs the extension to be able to compete with several nearby restaurants - whose menus he held up - that are open until at least 3 a.m."
What restaurants are those?
Open until 3 in Allston
Redneck's/Cafe Mitti and Natalie's Pizza.
Daniel Pokaski is a worthless human being.
the guy has to justify his useless postion
that you and i probably pay for through tax $ so he's waving his little cock around trying exert his power on something that shouldt even be an issue
Something you know about, I take it
If there's a part of Boston that could not only support but benefit from late-night food, it's Allston Village.
And if there's a list of people who need to justify their existence, then, yes, let's put the licensing board on it.
That having been said, screw it and you - I'm glad my tax dollars include paying for a board that tries to ensure nearby residents can get some sleep at 3 in the morning.
If it turns out nearby residents don't mind living next to a late-night Chinese restaurant, fine, let them have it - look at the South Street Diner situation. I suspect the college students and recent grads who probably make up a majority of the people living right around 145 Harvard Ave. would love to have a place to get greasy food after the bars close.
I just don't see how delaying a decision by a week or two just to make sure that is, in fact, the case ruins their - or your - life.
Screw me?
Really, guy? You're better than that.
Allston has been home to night owls for a long time. Anybody who has a problem with that is welcome to live elsewhere. There are Boston neighborhoods where staying up late is not the culture.
i was gonna say the same thing
but you beat me to it will. Do you realize how ridiculous you sound (adamg) when you say that nearby residents won't be able to get sleep if there is a chinese food place near them? Because buying chinese food causes lots and lots of noise. If anything it's the loud construction that has gone on in the morning at times that has kept me from sleeping.
Not to mention it's allston have you even been to allston? Do you know what the residents are like there? Its a very commercial area with lots of bars,clubs, and students. If you want to live in a sleepy neighborhood go move to some small town in the burbs. But if you live in the city expect there to be some action going on, late at night or not.
Yeah, I escaped Allston
I lived at 1127 Comm. Ave. before moving to Brighton and then to Roslindale. The Grecian Yearning was our regular breakfast place. That enough Allston cred for you?
No, Chinese food per se doesn't cause noise. And if you would stop frothing for just a second, and re-read my reply, I said if there's any place in Boston where late-night food makes sense, it's Allston Village.
But you know, right before they discussed the Chinese food, the board discussed gang trouble at a Blue Hill Ave. restaurant that wants to open late, too.
Yeah, yeah, no gangs in Allston, I hear you saying. And, I know, I know, nothing bad ever happens on Harvard Avenue late at night. No, sir, not a thing. Even so, I fail to see the problem with waiting two weeks to see if actual residents can be asked.
Allston Cred
That's enough Allston cred for me, although I would have loved a mention of ARC.
I wasn't addressing you
But go re-read my note: I said if there's one place in Boston where late-night food makes sense, it's there. All I'm saying is that waiting two weeks to let people who actually live there say they want the stuff is not going to kill anybody.
it's not the delay, it's his automatic disapproval
I just don't see how delaying a decision by a week or two just to make sure that is, in fact, the case ruins their - or your - life.
It's not the delay. It's why- and the chair's prejudiced position. He has no particular reason and just effectively loudly yelled "IF ANYONE HAS A PROBLEM, HINT HINT COUGH COUGH".
Why the ACA guy was there
There was a second application before the board for, I think, a new Chinese restaurant (I can get details if anybody needs them), which the association had discussed and said was fine by them.
The Unique guy actually tried to talk to the association last month, but it has to finish its meetings before a certain time or get kicked out of the library, so they weren't able to add him at the last minute. That's why Berkeley didn't have anything to say about Harvard Avenue - and that's why the board agreed to wait until after the association meeting next week.
amen brother you said it
unfortunately for you and I this 'free country' we are supposed to be living isn't really so free my friend or we wouldn't even be having this discussion about a stupid chinese food place trying to do business at a certain time.
Americans like their options. We like to choose what we eat when we eat it. We don't like to be told what and when. This is not a communist country.
We live in cities so we have more options if we want them. We take the negative aspects of a city with it. (noise, congestion, etc)
Otherwise we go live in some small town provincial suburb.
But we have that option.
i'm an american...
... and i am totally fine with having noise ordinances and zoning regulations and all sorts of other aspects that help regulate a community. nobody is actually telling you what to eat, or even when. you want to eat at 3:00 am? no problem! there's probably food in your kitchen, and there are a lot of 24 hour supermarkets that are stocked with food.
it has nothing to do with communism, and that sort of knee-jerk reactionary response is clearly and overstatement of ridiculous proportions.
however..... disclaimer: i gave up life in the busy city to live in a small town. it's quiet here.
no i dont hav e any food in my fridge
or at least anything worth eating. You think there are 24 grocery stores around here? lol
I don't know where you live buddy but here in boston most grocery stores shut down bt 10pm.
Of course there are no 24 hour grocery stores here. There is probably all kinds of hoopla you have to go through to have a grocery store open 24 hours because some politician is going to cry that it will cause noise and crime. whaaaaa whaaa whaaaa
so the shaws on Comm Ave in Allston
doesn't count as a 24-hour supermarket?
funny. because it appears to be a supermarket that's really open 24/7.
;)
He apparently doesn't live
He apparently doesn't live in Boston, because there's quite a few 24 hour grocery stores.
Came to troll talking points, and gets schooled. No one ever said the GOP zombie marchers were the party of smarts; just reactionary vitriol.
24 Hour grocery stores
You know where there's a 24-hour grocery store? IN ALLSTON. The Star Market in Packard's Corner is open 24 hours.
You don't have a sister named Miki, by chance, do you?
Here's a 24-hour supermarket in the city of Boston (it's not all that far from the 24-hour bowling alley - go knock yourself out). And here's a 24-hour Shaws. I hear tell there are even a couple of 24-hour drug stores with food sections.
Or as you kids say, lol.
i'm glad you were able to name all of two 24 hour grocery stores
in the entire city of boston. One in Dorchester and one in Allston. That's great.
lol
Lets face this city just has something
against anything late night.
The T shuts down at midnight, supermarkets close at 10, eateries are not allowed to be open late w out going through boards, licences,regulations, fines, beaucracy, etc., some bars/nightclubs are forced to shut down by 1am rather than 2am, etc. etc....
Dont all the shaws/star
Dont all the shaws/star markets open 24 hours?
Packards Corner
Copley
Fenway
The three Ive ever had to use are 24 hours
Not all
The ones in Hyde Park and West Roxbury are not open 'round the clock.
Plan ahead
If you don't have any food in your fridge, and the supermarket is already closed, perhaps the problem is less that the city has it in for you than that you have failed to plan ahead. But I guess personifying the city and blaming it for your lack of forethought is easier than taking responsibility for yourself.
you are missing the point
it's not about planning ahead its about having the ammenities and options that a lage city is supposed to provide.
If I want a hot slice of pizza, or a crispy egg roll at 2 am and someone is willing to sell it me let it be.
Or if i feel like going to the supermarket at 1 am and buy food then let it be.
I agree with rageagainst
Having late night restaurants is a perk that people take for granted in other cities. Late night subway service also. Boston will, eventually, also allow this perk.
when?
When the city has a complete make over of it's politicians and stupid policies?
Or, maybe ...
You work a shift that makes it difficult to get to the store at "normal" hours.
Then again, many European countries have only recently liberalized their hours of operation now that there isn't a hausfrau at home to do the grocery shopping for most families.
The town in Germany where I lived
still has every business in the town center closing for an hour or two from noonish to twoish.
There are supermarkets not far from there that don't do this of course, but the independent businesses in town all still do it.
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I visited my friend in
I visited my friend in switzerland (Neuchatel)
EVERYTHING (except one convenience store) was closed from Saturday at 6pm to Monday at 12 noon - the city (or perhaps canton) did not allow for monday morning operations, and the country generally does not allow for commerce on Sundays.
It was hell.
Or heaven? So you didn't get
Or heaven?
So you didn't get to buy some useless Chinese crap. I could think of hundreds of better things to do with a Sunday then spend it at wallyworld.
(Not that the gov should force them too, but offering incentives would be fine with me)
Heaven? Running out at 5pm
Heaven? Running out at 5pm on a Saturday because theres not enough milk to last until Monday at noon is far from heaven.
I remember that's how sweden was
when i was there some 10 years ago. Everything opened and closed (early) at the same exact time. It was like clockwork even all your bills came in on the same day of the month(well that would actually make things easy)
Not only that but everything was so conformed and controlled there. Well I guess that's what you get in a socialist country.
I remember thinking it made me realize what I took for granted what we have here in the states (at least most states) and I couldn't wait to get back.
That a really funny
That a really funny conservative spiel you got going there Rage.
And like all of them, it's all about YOU.
So the residents and neighbors have no say in how their community is run and grown, because YOU, several neighborhoods over, want Chinese food now.
Sorry, but your rights afforded to you under the constitution are not absolute. They don't afford you the right to blindly impose your will onto others, no matter how much the GOP keeps telling you that's how it works. Grow up.
conservative speil?
that's funny you think i'm a conservative (i love it another label) I'm actually on the opposite end of that. I've never voted GOP in my life.
All I'm saying is that stuff shouldn't be restricted to closing early if it's located in the city. If you want to live in a place where everything shuts down early and is very quiet, then you move out to the burbs.( or europe) That's pretty much how it works in every other city.
In a perfect democratic society yes every single one of us would have a say and a chance to vote in every decision that is made. that would be great. But we all know it doesn't work like that.
So most residents won't even show up to this licensing board meeting because they have no idea where or when it is. I mean c'mon who goes to these meetings or even knows about them?
People are very busy these days. So the people who will show up at these meeting are the busy bodies that have nothing better to do other than hault any kind of progress.
ex-allstonian here [and i don't mean the ska band]
my friends who want to eat out at 3 am move to new york, and leave me here to get some decent rest at that hour.
michael flaherty has been out telling bars and kids that he'll take care of stuff like this. i'm sure he hasn't mentioned that to residents in the neighborhood - it's not on his website, but he's got some karmaloop folks running a facebook group on the topic and they were at his rally today.
here are some highlights:
"Boston Nightlife for Michael Flaherty & Sam Yoon
Entertainment & Arts - Nightlife
This is a email I got from Greg Selkoe about Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon joining forces for the upcoming Boston Mayoral election. We created this group to help spread the word about the issues that affect Boston nightlife. Please check this out and spread the word if you want a better nightlife.
If you want:
· Bars and clubs to stay open later and not always be shut down, fined, and restricted by out of date blue laws
· Late night dining options
· The T to run all night (late night public transit options)
· Taxis to use their occupied light and be better and easier to get
· 24 hour gyms like every other major city
· You are not over 75 and got to bed at 9:30 PM"
Um.
Hey, I'm all for atypical schedules, largely because of the environmental impact of having three shifts of people working in one office or factory rather than building two more plants as the company grows. Also allows more flexibility for parenting and eldercare and whatnot. I recognize that this is a smart direction to go.
But is the ageist crap really needed to make this point? I'm not anywhere near 75 (I'm 30) and I do often go to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 so I can get up and go to my job that does happen to be on the earlyish shift. I would support all the things mentioned above if it weren't for the insinuation that I'm old and boring and uncool because of the schedule that I happen to work. I mean, I do support those things, but not gonna align myself with the assholes who did the marketing.
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I agree
Floon is losing me.
Not to mention that these are promises that will remain unfulfilled.
I dont understand why taxis
I dont understand why taxis dont use their occupied light. One day I will purchase tomatoes and throw them at taxis that are not using their lights.
No you won't
The supermarket will be closed.
of course flaherty told
the bars and kids that he will take care of these things because he wants their votes. But when he gets elected(if he does) I wouldn't necessarily count on all his promises because like every other politician he will be confined to please the special interest, and those with the power and money. Which will in turn keep him out of the line of fire.
Not that I am for Menino because I definitely think we need change in this city and a fresh perspective, but I haven't been convinced yet that Flaherty will be the guy to bring this to Boston either.
As the state controls a lot
As the state controls a lot of this -- blue laws, bar licenses, MBTA schedules -- maybe Flats should run for Governor, or state rep.
Anyone know?
Does anyone know if the ACA has a way to contact them via e-mail or comment form in a way that would be taken into consideration for the meeting if you're not able/interested in attending?
I mean, I guess I could give something written to the Chinese restaurant owner to take with him, but if I could send it straight to the association, that would probably be more direct.
I second that. I live in the
I second that. I live in the area and I dont have time to go to this meeting. Nor should I have to.
Thirded. Where to mail/phone/email support?
I third that. I used to live in that area, and I can't go to the meeting either. But I want to get 2:30 am Chinese food instead of Rednecks the next time I hit the bars over there.
Phone number, at any rate
Paul Berkeley: 617-782-2837.
They don't seem to have a Web site.
Should the city be regulating business hours at all?
I'd rather see every business be allowed to open for as many hours as it wants to, provided that it isn't selling alcoholic beverages. Let's make our business districts more useful to more people.
Depends on the zoning
My neighborhood is very residential. It's a quiet neighborhood with families and trees. There are two independent grocery stores and two cafe-type places in the whole neighborhood. I'd be pretty annoyed if they suddenly started being open all night.
But something like the Fenway Shaw's? I don't want to speak for its neighbors, but I imagine that someone who lives right there on Boylston or Brookline Ave has chosen to live right in the middle of the bustling city. If you live on an arterial lined with stores and bars and things, I'd guess that you realized what sort of atmosphere you were getting when you bought it.
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Why? Isn't you neighborhood
Why? Isn't you neighborhood pretty dense?
Sure, you might not get to keep the window open all night long all summer without a fan running, but that the price you pay living downtown in a major metropolitan area.
For the most part, Boston is an antique compared to other cities, that mix dense residential and commercial.
Never the less, you all must be light sleepers. I lived next to a rail yard and slept like a baby with the window open.
Are grocery stores that noisy, especially small local ones?
I can't see that having the bodegas and cafes open later at night should have much effect on anyone's sleep. These aren't bars or nightclubs.
exactly it has nothing to do with
people getting sleep.
It's part of a larger agenda here tied into old stupid blue laws and other conservative puritan laws that still linger on to this day.
Why don't we start acting like the progressive, liberized place we are supposed to be?