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February 27 - March 12, 2014
Denny’s plan for breakfast booze doesn’t go over easy at C.B. 1 B Y SA M S P O K O N Y Most of the time, controversial liquor license applications at the community board lead to long discussions over how late an establishment plans to serve drinks. But for a new Denny’s restaurant, which plans to open in May ― with a bar, in addition to its dining area ― at 150 Nassau St., the question was: how early is too early? Representatives of the restaurant went before C.B. 1’s Seaport/Civic Center Committee on Feb. 18, hoping to secure a full liquor license that would allow patrons to chug one down with their breakfasts. With food service planned to start everyday at 5 a.m., they hoped to start serving alcohol at 10 a.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Frances Allen, the restaurant chain’s chief brand officer, told the committee the request was, in part, based on “fitting in to the local community,” since this will be the first Denny’s in Manhattan. “Manhattanites have a different kind of brunch culture,” she said, “so we feel it’s important for people to have the opportunity to enjoy a drink with a meal at whatever time of day.” And Gurbax Marwah, the franchisee whose California-based company will own the Nassau St. restaurant along with 23 others across the country said it was just about business. “We chose 10 a.m. for [weekdays] for the
Downtown Express photo by Sam Spokony.
Gorbax Marwah (at right), who will run the 150 Nassau St. Denny’s, spoke at the Feb. 18 C.B. 1 committee meeting while Frances Allen, left, a Denny’s executive, and a clearly skeptical Roger Byrom of C.B. 1 looked on.
simple reason that there will be people coming from the Financial District, whether they’re entertaining clients, or they just want to have a snack and a refresher, so we will need them to be served,” said Marwah. He later added
that he believed pushing any of the hours back could take away from his breakfast crowd. But those impressions didn’t go over too well with the board, or the dozen residents who came out to oppose the early hours.
“You must have the point of view that a lot of Manhattanites are alcoholics, if you really think you’re going to lose the breakfast meals if people can’t have a drink that early,” said committee member Paul Hovitz. He pointed out that most restaurants and bars in the area generally start serving alcohol around 11 a.m., and also noted that 150 Nassau St. is bit too far north to cater directly to Financial District business meetings. “I’m just trying to figure out, who needs a drink at 10 a.m. next to [the Spruce Street School] and a university?” said Sarah Elbatanouny, a John St. resident whose daughter attends the elementary school, also referring to Pace University. And Marijo O’Grady, Pace’s dean of students, opposed the early hours because she feared, among other things, “direct marketing to our students” regarding alcohol. One resident of neighboring 140 Nassau St. attended the meeting to share a particularly blunt opinion of the situation. “The kind of person who wants to have a drink before noon is not the kind of person I want in front of my building,” he said. “Or in my neighborhood.” This all came after nearly a year of conflict surrounding the new Denny’s, during which the condo board at 150 Nassau St. had sued to try to keep out the restaurant, which was Continued on page 9