Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Retail Activation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CB2 SAR denies Victoria Beckham perfume activation over crowding and pedestrian‑access concerns
Summary
Community Board 2’s Street Activity Review committee denied a planned Victoria Beckham curb‑lane activation after members said the proposal risked creating multiple lines that would obstruct sidewalks and disrupt nearby businesses and residences.
The Community Board 2 Street Activity Review (SAR) committee on its July agenda denied a proposed Victoria Beckham promotional activation that would have placed a temporary curb‑lane café and distributed free perfume samples near Cafe Paradiso at 202 Elizabeth Street.
The activation’s location manager, Ernie Liberati, described a 20‑by‑6‑foot curb‑lane platform and shaded seating with a display and free fragrance samples for foot traffic around July 15–20. Liberati said the installation would be fabricated off‑site, would use umbrella‑shaded queuing, and would not include amplified sound or celebrities.
Committee members pressed the applicant on how lines would be managed where a steady coffee queue already forms. One committee member said, “I think you need a different line for people who only want the fragrance,” and warned that separate lines could still spill into pedestrian space. Members repeatedly emphasized the need to maintain a five‑foot clear pedestrian walkway and to avoid creating new places for people to congregate outside residences above the site.
The applicant agreed to coordinate with the cafe and the building owner and proposed a curb‑lane line for fragrance distribution. Committee members remained concerned that, even with a separate curb‑lane line, the activation would intensify existing sidewalk crowding and complicate safe pedestrian passage.
At the business session the committee took a formal position: members voted to deny the application, citing site constraints, the presence of an ongoing coffee queue and the likelihood the activation would obstruct required pedestrian clearances. The committee recorded the denial and instructed staff to flag the site and the concerns to SAPO for enforcement and follow‑up.
Next steps: the applicant was advised to rework the proposal to avoid interaction with the established cafe queue, to supply a revised site plan that guarantees a continuous five‑foot pedestrian path, and to return to SAR for reconsideration only after making those changes.
