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Board has more than two dozen applications for just five unrestricted liquor licenses
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Comments
Wow, that's a lot of paper...
Wow, that's a lot of paper... I wonder how many trees have to die for these liquor licenses
Why should people who own
Why should people who own multiple establishments and can hardly be considered small business owners get such a valuable freebie from the City? It is instructive to see who scored the last time around. This reeks!
Why do other towns get to
Why do other towns get to decide how many licenses they hand out and Boston has such a limited supply?? It's a totally false scarcity.
Its a perfect example of the
Its a perfect example of the state government killing small businesses in Boston. Only the rich will prosper when they are the only ones who can afford a liquor license.
good thing you didn't blame Obama
Boston city liquor licenses are issued by the city of Boston. funny thing that
Well ...
Yes, the licenses are now issued by the city of Boston (until 2014, they were issued by a board appointed by the governor). But the state legislature has limited the number of licenses Boston can issue, because, of course, we are not to be trusted.
Yeah, but
have you met us?
It goes way back...
...to the late 1800's when the Irish were taking over Boston and the Brahmins that still ran the state didn't think they could be trusted to govern --- especially when it came to liquor!
this is the reason
every townie, hack, life-long politician has an uncle who was a drunken mess. so they all think alcohol is evil and have all these outdated laws to "stop" the "next uncle".
attention townie hacks: there is a whole population out there that doesn't have relatives that are drunks.
file this under reason number 91,235,323 on why we should not elect townies. Boston needs outside blood. ...people that come from a world class city.
With every post...
... you betray your total lack of knowledge of actual (as opposed to made up in your own head) Boston history.
Of course
Since the politicians in Revere, Everett, Medford, Somerville, Springfield and all of the 350 municipalities not called Boston are all models of good governance.
Brighton licenses should be transferred to other neighborhoods
After all, their elected rep, Moran, was the key person on the Deleo team who fought to keep Boston from having control over liquor licenses.
nick varano's well-known
nick varano's well-known generosity in the neighborhood? ahahahhahahahhahahaha. this guy is a total buffoon though it does seem to make him a lot of money.
It was so generous of him to
It was so generous of him to take down the huge billboard in the North End that was just a picture of his ugly mug.
another one is already up.
another one is already up. equally unappealing.
I remember the first time I saw what he looked like
After only reading about him. Come on, who else was picturing a fat guy? Right? Couldn't believe how not fat he is.
He used to weigh a lot more
Then he had two-thirds of his stomach surgically removed.
Almost all of those needs
sounds like a bunch of horse-hockey.
Down town doesn't have enough restaurants to serve the ballooning residential population? Really?
The need for more liquor licenses in the N. End is that the owner sweeps up the sidewalk? Good for him, but c'mon.
PS- Not a knock on these restaurants. More on the political spin/BS/hoops they're being forced to jump through.
Give Tom Kershaw Another Liquor License?
On moral grounds, please no.
This is a man who made millions off of the happenstance that a couple of producers decided to create a sitcom and set in his bar also happens to be the man that went public within a very few days of 9/11, after the airlines were suggesting a bailout because they are the lifeblood of commerce in the country, saying that he needed a bailout as well, because I guess because t-shirts of a Bull and Finch are just as important to the nation's commerce as United or Delta.
Many were kind of shocked when he kept pushing for it while fires were still burning in Lower Manhattan. He even kept up with it when Jack Thomas at the Globe tried to give him a soft focus story in late 2001.
Tom, please go with what you got and be happy.
Yes, the airlines screamed on
Yes, the airlines screamed on 9/11 how they needed free money from taxpayers to survive, and Congress obliged with a $5 billion cash giveaway.
If the US government is going to borrow money from my kids and hand out to random people, I'd put out my hand too.
Would you rather
The airlines fail? We go back to train services to cross the country?
I'd rather
We limit the growth of the human population so that a pilot can make a fair living while an airline passenger lives a life where a plane ticket is comfortably within their means.
Giving away something free that can be later sold??
I bet even a child detective could trace the money flow in this scam. Keep it simple: If you get the license for free, then you can't sell it to someone else. If you pay market rate for the license, then you can. why is the city handing out golden tickets?
Victory Pub
"Renegades Pub, 1004 Bennington St. Public need: Would re-activate a former pub space turned eyesore that has been vacant for years, LaMattina and the mayor's office say."
To be fair, that location was an eyesore when it was occupied.
Little Asia is a pretty good spot a short walk away for good drinks. I'm, unfortunately, seeing something Ed Hardyish when I see the name "Renegades", but I'd be curious to see the theme.
Hearty all-American burgers, basically
They used the phrase "all-American burgers." With craft beers and fancy cocktails.
Toronto Airport
Must be why a friend tagged me in a picture from one of their locations in a foreign airport.
okay
Okay, that is still basically what I expected.
Nice
I was always a little annoyed when I lived in Poets' Corner about the lack of a local.
Poets' Corner
Was this your own name for the area? I've always wondered when realtors would name the area from Wood Island to Orient Heights "Poets' Point".
Someone told me that's what
Someone told me that's what it was called.
hmm
Was it a realtor perchance?
No
No
This is why neighborhood watering holes are endangered
First there's the astronomical market rate for these licenses, which are always going to migrate towards higher income areas (Back Bay, Downtown, Seaport for unrestricted licenses, the better-off neighborhoods for the restricted ones).
But imagine having to pay a lawyer to assemble all the documents and attend all the hearings, with no certainty that you will end up with a license at the end of the day (which can easily kill a restaurant).
This artificially low number of licenses hurts consumers and small business-owners while benefiting almost no one except the chains who jump through these hoops easily and/or have already bought into the system.
Not to mention it hurts
Not to mention it hurts neighborhoods because, as you mentioned, (relatively) sleepy places like Roslindale and Ashmont have to compete with Back Bay on an open market for liquor licenses. You couldn't design a better system to put a drag on a neighborhood economy.
But don't forget ...
The 60 neighborhood-only licenses designed to counteract that. There's been some funny stuff with them, but Roslindale Square could get a cool new place in the substation because of them (plus the place where Derna's used to be, if it ever opens), Hyde Park got a couple, even Dorchester and Roxbury have gotten some.
ughhh wheeennnn is derna's
ughhh wheeennnn is derna's opening?? ? ? ?
Someone looks like they need a vacation
The board chairwoman definitely looks like she needs a vacation.
Pfft
She works three (expletive) days a week!
Just .... wow.
"... distilled spirits would prove valuable to customers with various digestive ailments ..."
Blame the board that is
Blame the board that is asking for reasons they should issue liquor licenses. A reasonable response is because it will help my business succeed, but the board does not want to hear that, they want to hear that you are a special snowflake that loves Boston more than all the other guys.