Last night Manhattan's Communty Board 3 liquor-license-denying subcommittee of pain got its chance to take out a bit of aggression on the owners of Koi, whose plan to turn an old Salvation Army shelter at 347 Bowery into to an upscale sushi lounge was unanimously?and not unexpectedly?denied. Eater has a recap of the public hearing/witchburning, and even though the Koi people had met with community members to try and preemptively smooth over any resistance, CB3 didn't buy the restaurant's spiel that it would be a friendly and welcoming neighbor:
The board and the community were having none of that, quickly calling attention to the hot mess that is the Bowery on the weekends and pointing out that a neighborhood where the median income is $31,000 will not benefit from a destination spot like Koi. The frustrated Koi people threatened that if they don't get approved the building will be abandoned, or worse, will become a huge condo/hotel build up.Meanwhile, Vanishing New York relays the angry testimony from one resident who has seemingly blocked out the memories of the past 80 years of Bowery history: "People come here from all over with a sense of entitlement--they scream and yell all night and make the neighborhood unseemly." As for Koi, we're sure they'll pay off the appropriate people at the state level and get this liquor license matter settled.
· CB3 Drops Hammer On Koi; Motorino Gets Green Light [Eater]
· Koi Denied [Vanishing New York]
· All 347 Bowery coverage [Curbed]
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