So today Grub Street, New York magazine's food blog, had a cute little success story about GalleryBar's ability to score a liquor license thanks to some tricky manipulations by the landlord. Apparently the landlord evicted 13 Little Devils, a bar, but somehow retained the liquor license that 13 L.D. got from the New York State Liquor Authority.

 Problem #1: 13 Little Devils' License was subject to a complaint from Community Board 3, because the license was granted without even so much as one meeting with the board, which has to approve EVERY license application, in theory, before the state actually grants the license.

 Problem #2: The landlord kicks out 13 Little Devils and creates a new entity, 120 Orchard LLC, which retains possession of the liquor license. Huh? Again, the board should be voting on this transfer. Now the people who got the license originally have absolutely zip to do with whoever is operating with it.

Problem #3: GalleryBar rents the space from the landlord, and in some arrangement or deal, now uses the license that belongs to 120 Orchard LLC, which, in all likelihood, the actual operators of the GalleryBar NEVER applied for.

 Problem #4: The Community Board voted yes to approve license transfers and modifications to the transferred 120 Orchard LLC license, apparently ignorant of the fact that the license was ill-gotten. So any case for the license being obtained without proper oversight goes right out the window.

Look– GalleryBar sounds like a cool place. But why couldn't the license have been gotten the right way? I hate to say the "system is screwed up, man," but it sort of is. Liquor licenses are getting passed around like the town bicycle these days. And eventually the people who originally got them are just gone, and if the point of a license is regulate the type of people and business selling liquor (no crimes, no tax problems, no weird business loans), then what's the point of letting a license change hands without any sort of oversight?

How to Score a Lower Eastpacking District Liquor License - Grub Street - New York Magazine