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State Licenses and Permits

November 2023, State Licenses and Permits Committee

47 West 20TH Street (between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue, 20th AND 21st Streets; ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS LLC aka 656 6th Avenue), New York, NY 10011 application for a new on-premises liquor license

At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, November 09, 2023, the following resolution passed with a vote of 23 in favor; 9 opposed; 1 abstaining:

WHEREAS, Roadside Attractions LLC (“Applicant”), has notified Community Board Five of its intention to apply for a new on-premises liquor license for a theater at 47 West 20th Street (between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue, 20th and 21st Streets; aka 656 6th Avenue), New York, New York, 10011 (the “Premises”); and

WHEREAS, The Premises consist of approximately 21,000 square feet in total on 3 floors with 3 patron bars, 4 service bars, 3 entrances and 5 exits, and a total capacity of 954 occupants with approximately 318 seats and 50 tables; and

WHEREAS, Applicant has agreed that Applicant shall:

1. Restrict the hours of operation to no later than 12:00 a.m., Sunday through Wednesday, and 1:00 a.m., Thursday through Saturday; hours of operation restrictions refer to closing times, with last seating and beverage order taking place prior to closing time; 
2. Restrict bar service only to ticketed patrons, or during private events;
3. Limit private events at the Premises ending later than 10:00 p.m. to no more than 24 per year. A “private event” as used herein is a third party buy out of the entire venue and does not include ticketed events or performances. Private events shall never be operated in a manner consistent with a club or cabaret;
4. Request landlord to enforce the lease terms of Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria, which is adjacent to Applicant’s Premises, specifically with respect to ensuring adequate usable sidewalk space; 
5. Use only 6th Avenue entrances for patron ingress and egress, with 20th street entrances used for staff, performers, deliveries, other non-patron uses, as an emergency egress, and as an ADA entrance for patrons;
6. Provide dedicated security and / or staff members to assist with the smooth and quiet exit at closing times, use best efforts to prevent congestion or crowding by Applicant’s patrons of the public sidewalk space outside of the Premises at all times that the Applicant is operating, direct patron foot traffic to 6th Avenue and away from 20th street, all in accordance with the security plan and traffic analysis filed with the questionnaire; 
7. Not use outdoor wait lines or rope lines at any time; 
8. Set ride hailing pick-up / drop-off point on 6th Avenue and, during peak hours, deploy staff to provide active management of drop-off and pick-up traffic on 6th Ave and away from 20th St so as to minimize standing and idling, conflicts with buses, pedestrians, parked vehicles, bike lane and travel lane movements; 
9. Arrange for waste removal to take place at times and in a manner consistent with Dept. of Sanitation regulations in enclosed containers, and loading activities occur during ordinary daily operating hours; 
10. Meet with neighbors on a regular basis if requested and provide contact method, accessible during all operating hours, to a designated live staff member to promptly  address any complaints regarding Applicant relating to the operation of its business from the community; 
11. Not allow patrons to bring in or consume alcoholic beverages not purchased on the Premises, and have no bottle service on the Premises other than bottles of wine and/or wine products;
12. Perform adequate sound proofing measures and conduct an independent sound study once renovation is complete to measure exterior sound levels produced at the Premises to be in compliance with NYC Noise Code; 
13. Not allow karaoke at the Premises, have recorded music played at a background level outside of show times, and in no event allow patron dancing or a DJ to be permitted on the Premises other than for a private event;
14. Provide notice to CB5 before applying for a sidewalk café or pursuing outdoor operations; 
15. Strictly comply with and adhere to the method of operation as stated herein, and not change the method of operation of the Premises unless prior notice is given to  Community Board 5 in writing, and approval is obtained by the New York State Liquor Authority as required by law; and 

WHEREAS, Should Applicant ever contemplate a transfer of its interest in the operation at the Premises (“transfer” being deemed to include a change in control of an entity or the transfer of a majority interest in an entity), Applicant shall notify CB5 before such transfer is made; and

WHEREAS, Should Hunter Arnold ever contemplate a transfer of his interest in Licensee (“transfer” being deemed to include a change in control of an entity or the transfer of a majority interest in an entity), notice shall be given to CB5 before such transfer is made and any transferee shall be required to agree to the conditions and stipulations contained herein if the transferee has a substantially similar operation; and

WHEREAS, The Premises is located within CB5’s Restricted Licensing Area, an area of extreme density of businesses and residences; and

WHEREAS, CB5’s guidelines for the Restricted Licensing area (the “RLA Guidelines”) typically prevent CB5’s support of an establishment exceeding 4,000 square feet of space for patron use or without a full kitchen; and 

WHEREAS, An exception was intentionally made for this application because, despite being larger than typically allowed and without a full kitchen, the method of operation of the Premises is otherwise consistent with and otherwise complies with the RLA Guidelines in terms of hours of operation, use, and method of operation, etc., to wit,

 (i) the number of seats for patron seating at the Premises is only approximately 318 despite the large size of the space, 

(ii) the use of the space in excess of the allowed 4,000 square feet of patron space is exclusively to facilitate theatre viewing and theatre operations, 

(iii) the lack of a full kitchen is reflective of Applicant’s use of the space as a theatre, where a partial kitchen suffices for concessions purposes, and 

(iv) Applicant has designated its 6th Avenue entrance for patron egress and ingress and committed to measures to effectively control arrival to and dispersal from the Premises onto the street; and

WHEREAS, Members of the public appeared and commented regarding this application and the comments and concerns of the community were taken into consideration in negotiating these conditions and stipulations; and

WHEREAS, These agreements, stipulations and conditions will be incorporated into the Method of Operation as part of the liquor license alteration application submitted by Applicant to the New York State Liquor Authority, a copy of which shall be simultaneously submitted to CB5, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends denial of the application by Roadside Attractions LLC for a new on-premises liquor license for a theater at 47 West 20th Street (between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue, 20th and 21st Streets; aka 656 6th Avenue), New York, NY 10011, unless the above conditions are adhered to and are incorporated into the method of operation of the State Liquor Authority application.