Community Board asks Barclays Center to stop alcohol sales at 2 a.m. (UPDATED)

At first, the fight was over whether to build a 675,00-square-foot stadium in the middle of downtown Brooklyn.
 
Now, the fight is over when to announce last call.
 
Community Board 6 voted Wednesday to recommend cutting off all alcohol sales at 2 a.m. at the future home of the Brooklyn Nets, which opens in September. Legally, nightlife venues in New York City can serve alcohol until 4 a.m.

The community board’s vote suggested the following, whichever happens first — that alcohol sales should be cut off at 2 a.m., that no alcohol should be sold after the third quarter of NBA games, and alcohol sales should stop an hour before the end of any other event.

Residents wanted even stricter rules: A petition posted on Brooklyn Speaks, a coalition of groups concerned about the stadium, asks for a strict alcohol curfew.
 
“Barclays Center wants a license to open an 18,000-seat bar with no cut-off time,” petition writers said. “That’s not appropriate for a residential neighborhood, and it won’t work for Brooklyn.”
 
The petition asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State Liquor Authority Chairman Dennis Rosen to order Barclays to stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m., at half time at an NBA game, or 45 minutes before the end of an event, whichever comes first.
 
The NBA already requires that alcohol service stop after the third quarter for games, and at least one hour before the scheduled end of an event.
 
But residents said that that was not near early enough, citing concerns that boozed-up people would be streaming through their neighborhoods in the middle of the night.
 
Gib Veconi, treasurer of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, said he is most concerned about multiple-performance events, such as concerts with several musicians, that could stretch into the early hours, while serving alcohol.
 
“The more people have to drink, the more gregarious they’re going to be when they leave the arena and the harder it is going to be for them to consider the effects of their behavior on the people who are trying to sleep,” Veconi said.

Added said Peter Krashes, president of
the Dean Street Block Association, “You have a concert on a Thursday night, if the cutoff’s 11 o’clock, then
you’re going to have arena patrons leaving a concert at 11:30, 12
o’clock potentially drunk, and they’re going to be walking right past
bedrooms on their way to the parking lot.”
 
The recommendation goes to the New York State Liquor Authority.
 
A spokeswoman for Levy Restaurants, the restaurant partner for the Barclays Center, declined comment yesterday.

Booze rules at stadiums

The NBA requires booze sales to stop at the end of the third quarter, and an hour before any concert or event. How does this compare?

Yankees
No one can bring alcohol into the stadium. Alcohol sales in seating areas begins 30 minutes before the scheduled start of a game. The sale of beer in seating areas ends two hours after the start of the game, or in the middle of the seventh inning, whichever comes first.  
 
Mets
At a Mets game, alcohol sales at concession stands and in suites stop after the 7th inning, but stadium officials reserve the right to stop it earlier at their discretion. Alcohol sales in restaurants and clubs stop 45 minutes after the conclusion of a game.