Broom Street Bar’s request for roadway seating draws a large public turnout; neighbors and committee press for 10 p.m. outdoor cutoff

The Licensing Committee reviewed an alteration/expansion application from Broom Street Bar, Inc., for 361–363 West Broadway (also listed as 499 Broom Street) to expand onto municipal property and add roadway seating. Donna Raftery, committee chair, called the item and said many people were present to speak.

Liana Kaufman, listed on the license and speaking for the proprietors, framed Broom Street Bar as a local, long‑running neighborhood establishment that relied on outdoor seating introduced during the pandemic. Kaufman said outdoor dining had helped the business survive difficult economic conditions and that the operation had complied with prior requirements; she asked the committee to approve continued outdoor service until midnight, the hours the business had sought under earlier pandemic arrangements.

Multiple nearby residents and SoHo community members testified in opposition to late‑night outdoor seating. Speakers included Chrissy Ursula, Elizabeth Vincent, George Schlosser and others who said the bar functions as a valued community gathering place but worried that outdoor drinking after 10 p.m. had become a broader neighborhood problem. Several residents emphasized that the block historically did not permit outdoor‑dining activity and warned that permitting late‑night outdoor drinking could create a precedent across the district.

Committee members distilled the central questions to two interlocking issues: (1) the public‑safety and life‑safety implications of roadway seating (DOT clearance and preservation of emergency vehicle travel lanes) and (2) neighborhood quality‑of‑life impacts from late‑night outdoor drinking after 10 p.m. The Broadway Residents Coalition, cited in committee remarks, flagged the roadbed width and emergency access concerns.

The committee offered a commonly used compromise — allow outdoor seating but require clearing the outdoor seating and ending outdoor service by 10 p.m. on weeknights (with limited later hours on weekend nights in some cases) — and asked the applicant to sign written stipulations to that effect. Liana Kaufman and other proprietors indicated support for outdoor dining and said they would work with the committee; several public commenters said they would accept a 10 p.m. outdoor cutoff while reserving the right to continue to oppose later expansions.

No formal roll‑call vote on the license alteration was recorded in the available transcript; committee staff said stipulation text would be circulated to applicants and staff would follow up with DOT and SLA where permits or public‑safety signoffs remained outstanding.