Lower Columbus Corridor (LoCoCo): On the northern edge of North Beach, the combination Irish pub/Indian restaurant, Kennedy's, was unanimously denied using the full liquor license that it bought a few months ago.
Kennedy's, which currently serves beer and wine only, purchased the Type 47 license that used to belong to the Golden Spike, but thanks to the protesty North Beach neighborhood posses, the supes nixed it yesterday. The owner of Kennedy's claims the denial cost the bar $22,000 in fees that included dealing with the red tape, the hearings, and the actual license, which you know, is rather useless if it cannot be used.
Even more suspicious are the circumstances surrounding the denial, which really do reek of silly politics and at worst, shenanigans.
The main reason for the denial was police Captain James Dudley, who cited the abundance of well-documented bar violence in the neighborhood. Fine. Of course, it hasn't been mentioned that the violence is obviously centered in North Beach proper and the B&T-filled Broadway Strip, not the vicinity of Kennedy's, which is closer to the Wharf than Washington Square Park.
And a neighbor actually brought up the fact that a dead body was found over 40 years ago in a car outside the address (we kid you not). Now, anyone who has been to Kennedy's can tell you the strong majority of patrons are lonely old men, art school kids from up the street, or maybe people seeing shows at Bimbo's or Cobb's.
Granted, there's likely more behind the situation, but to prove that the booze politics are about who you know, consider that Vin Club—owned by the well-connected, well-established Dario Zucconi, also of Tommaso—was literally just granted a new liquor license (for a wine bar, yes, but still), directly on Broadway, directly in the middle of the violent shitshow.
The police captain couldn't be reached for comment because he took the week off.
