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Politics & Government

Community Board 6 Unanimous: Regulate Outdoor Bars!

Community Board 6 votes to support Millman Bill limiting outdoor nightlife.

Representing a district in near-constant throes of nightlife battles, voted unanimously on Tuesday to endorse a new resolution that will set limits on roof-top and back-garden merriment.

Introduced by Assembly Member Joan Millman, the bill would standardize regulation of outdoor nightlife, generally requiring bars and restaurants with back yards and rooftop seating to close up their outdoor spaces by eleven p.m. Sunday through Thursday and by midnight on Friday and Saturday. Local community boards, however, will still have the option to approve extended hours.

“It’s been a hot topic, especially in our area,” said Thomas Miskel, who represented the Permits and Licenses Committee at the Community Board’s General Meeting on Wednesday night. That committee last month. He later discussed how the new bars expected to crop up with the Barclays Center have created a special urgency in addressing these issues.

The Community Board’s approval serves an advisory function to local legislators, and the bill still has a long way to go and a lot of moving parts to bring into line before it can take effect.

"This would be the third year they’re trying to pass it," said Miskel. 

With the bill already introduced in the assembly, the next step would be to find a co-sponsor to introduce the bill in the senate. Both houses would then hear the bill and eventually vote on whether to approve it. Once approved, it would go to the governor to be signed into law.

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“I believe the community board’s vote tonight sends a strong signal to our state legislators that this is something that we believe is needed,” said Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman. “It’s good legislation and we would like to see them act on it as quickly as possible.”

Hammerman speculated that the Community Board’s support could persuade a local legislator to take the bill on as a co-sponsor.

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“You would have to ask either Senator Squadron or Montgomery or Adams or one of the other senators if they’re planning on sponsoring the bill now that they know that a portion of their constituency supports it.” 

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