ER Bar and Lounge on Second Avenue
By Maria Rocha-Buschel
The Business Affairs and Street Activities Committee for Community Board 6 has blocked an application from a Kips Bay bar to operate for an all-night party on New Year’s Eve. ER Bar and Lounge at 605 Second Avenue, between East 33rd and 34th Streets, closes at 3 a.m. on a regular basis but a representative for the bar told the committee that they were hoping to capitalize on the holiday and stay open for just a couple more hours. The committee, however, wasn’t having it.
“I don’t like the idea that there isn’t a specific deadline,” said committee member Julie Block, before instead proposing that the community board limit the bar to a 4 a.m. closing time. Block said that she was concerned about the bar’s laissez-faire attitude about a potential closing time on the holiday, since the application didn’t include a specific closing time other than “for a couple more hours.”
Other committee members were worried about the idea of a bar serving alcohol without the option of food for the entire time. Member Dan Devine said he wasn’t sure if the flexibility of the bar’s policy was a great idea since the venue isn’t planning to make the event ticketed but he said that he’s open to it.