On March 19, 2019, the New York County Lawyers’ Association will sponsor a two-hour continuing legal education class on issues on restaurant law at its offices at 14 Vesey Street beginning at 6 pm. Bernstein Redo, P.C.’s Donald Bernstein will teach a segment on retail liquor licenses, joined by Nancy Schess, Esq. who will speak on labor and employment issues for restaurants, and Kyle-Beth Hilfer, Esq. who will present on intellectual property issues. The course is sponsored by the Real Property Section of the Association and will be moderated by its chair, Roy Fenichel of MIT National Land Services. Registration is through www.nycla.org.

Last week a court in Manhattan reversed the denial by the New York City Council of a sidewalk café permit for Calle Dao at 461 West 23rd Street in Chelsea. Calle Dao, a Cuban-Chinese restaurant in the London Terrace building, had applied for a permit for a small sidewalk café. The last restaurant in that space, Barchetta, had been issued a sidewalk café permit when it had operated in 2014. However, opposition by some vocal residents of London Terrace, Community Board 4, and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson led to a vote in the Council to deny the permit, even though it had been approved by the Department of Consumer Affairs. In her ruling, Judge Carol R. Edmead said that the Council’s vote was “unsupported by evidence regarding land use and zoning regulations and only based on community opposition.” Citing previous court rulings, the judge ruled that the Council’s decision to deny the permit to Calle Dao “fails the rational basis test and is thus arbitrary and capricious.” The City was ordered to give its consent to the café. Bernstein Redo, P.C. was part of the Calle Dao team.

On February 13, 2019, Bernstein Redo, P.C.’s Donald Bernstein will be co-presenting with Robin Zeidel, Esq. of Zeidel & Associates, P.C., a webcast seminar on Drafting and Negotiating Restaurant Leases. This one hour continuing legal education program is sponsored by the American Law Institute. Drafting and negotiating the varied clauses contained in restaurant leases presents a unique set of challenges involving complex issues not found in other retail agreements. The interplay between these critical provisions will not only set the standard for a successful landlord-tenant relationship, but also avoid costly problems down the road. Regardless of whether you represent a landlord or tenant, you need to be able to identify the most problematic lease sections, which will be covered in this seminar. Registration is through the American Law Institute website, www.ali-cle.org.

With a New York City Council vote just before the holiday in December, it will become harder to develop new hotels in certain areas of the city. A new City Planning Commission Special Permit will be required to construct new hotels and motels in light manufacturing (M1) zones. City Planning Director Marisa Lago said that because competition for buildable land is rising, particularly in light manufacturing districts, “the targeted, case by case, site specific approach…allows for new hotels in manufacturing zones when that is appropriate.”  The new zoning rules make vacant or undeveloped sites in M1 districts available for other light industrial uses to serve the needs of the nearby residents, according to its supporters. The Special Permit will require hotel developers in the restricted districts to go through a formal land use public review (ULURP) process.  Opponents of the measure, including hotel and real estate groups, argued that hotels are only a small portion of development in industrial areas and that new rules would hurt tourism. According to a recent analysis, the zoning change would eliminate the availability of 220 million square feet of as of right hotel construction space in the city.

Ariel Palitz, Senior Executive Director of the New York City Office of Nightlife, and referred to as the “Nightlife Mayor”, conducted the last of the five Borough meetings of the office’s Listening Tour in Manhattan last week.  Hundreds of residents, business owners, and community board members attended the meeting at The Town Hall on West 43^rd St. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, as well as a number of City Council members, spoke at the gathering.  Director Palitz moderated a panel of representatives from 10 city agencies including the NYPD, the FDNY, DOB, and the NYS Liquor Authority, represented by Deputy CEO Jones. Borough President Brewer said that nightlife was “an economic engine in the City” generating over $48 billion in revenue. At the same time, she expressed concern that there were, by her count, 653 new liquor licenses issued this year through mid-October, though she did not state how many of those were liquor or grocery stores as opposed to restaurants, bars or hotels. That figure did also not take into account closings. Director Palitz said that the growth of licenses issued is only about 2%, less than in prior years.  She said that the goal of her office is to balance the vitality of the industry with quality of life issues and welcomes comments from the industry and from concerned residents.