good morning thank you all for joining us we'll give folks just a moment to clear the waiting room and connect to audio good morning this is the voting hearing of the licensing board for the city of Boston today is Thursday April 4th 2024 this morning's hearing is being recorded and will be posted to the city of Boston's website while the public is encouraged to attend there will be no additional testimony accepted this morning we'll begin with the voting uh we'll begin with the licensed premise inspection hearing which occurred on Tuesday April 2nd 2024 item number one uh will be deferred and continued until the next available hearing date item number two cmg1 P Square LLC doing business as Mariel located at 10 Post Office Square date of the incident October 15 2023 assault and battery Patron on Patron in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 section 64 and chapter 265 section 13A uh this is um the testimony that was presented the security intervened assisted the victim called police separated the parties I see no violation I agree I agree item number three paga Inc doing business as icon located at 100b Warrington Street date of the incident October 1st 2023 assault and battery Patron on Patron in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 section 64 and chapter 265 section 13A I see a violation here uh the video that was presented and reviewed um the security did not have a handle in the situation and actually was seen on the video punching uh one of the patrons and they also didn't call the police sounds good yeah I saw the same thing okay the vote is for a violation as to the disposition of the violation I don't have their Doc in front of me but I did look yesterday um and I believe I'm correct to say they don't have a history of this um a recent history of this so my vote would be for a first warning I agree good the vote is a violation with a warning is there correspondence deescalation security and calling the police I think that should uh be noted in the correspondence thanks just see a violation with a warning and correspondence uh which would underscore the importance of deescalation and calling police in an incident such as this item number four game on Fenway LLC doing business as Game on Sports Cafe located at 72 to 82 landown Street date of the incident October 8th 2023 assault and battery employee on Patron in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 section 64 and chapter 265 section 13A first I want to comment on the record I appreciate the lenses cooperation with with us uh in our request for video um that being said uh this I believe this could have been prevented I think it was foreseeable that someone would be injured with a security officer holding a flashlight and punching someone um he hit he's seen on the video hitting the victim uh I see a violation yeah I agree with all that um it even started before that with the acquaintance of the name victim um that's really when it got physical eyes saw and the the one thing that bothered me I mean I don't want to belabor the point but the they're kind of focus on how obnoxious the patrons were it it really that's not an excuse that's actually in my mind that's something that is very foreseeable and something they should be ready for in the business they're in and so I don't see it as an excuse and I think that their focus on that was um you know misplaced and so I wanted to say that yeah I think that those are the the kinds of actions that should have been controlled and so you know if there were um security around uh not just down that sell but actually monitoring the basketball area I think it could have been prevented the whole thing could have been prevented because it could have been de escalated much earlier um so yeah I I agree with all all that you guys said so given the history um the recent history my vote would be for a first warning in correspondence I think noting what commissioner Kar and commissioner Saxon have shared on the record is important to convey in writing to the leny under the circumstances with alcohol in a situation like this these things could are foreseeable yes commissioner curan anything you would like to add can can I just have a moment I'm sorry sure okay I am looking back at a previous incident but it is far enough back and maybe not quite related enough to this exactly so I would vote for a warning as well yes a violation with a warning and correspondence from the board oh P you're on mute yes I agree I number five lafa El Gordo Inc doing business as Pika located at 280 to 306 Washington Street in Brighton date of the incident October 8th 2023 assault and battery Patron on Patron in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 section 64 and chapter 265 section 13A I see no violation here definitely no violation is I agree item number six the Boston Leo Corp located at 71 to 79 Warrington Street dat of the incident January 27th 2024 assault and battery employee on Patron in violation of Mass General La chapter 138 section 64 and chapter 265 section 13A just a second um I was able to review the video that they submitted and again I appreciate the cooperation with the ly in submitting the video um it's clear from the audio and the visual that the patron was hit and punched by an employee in response to a comment um it looked like a very frustrating situation um but I did see an assault and I find a violation for the assault yeah I mean we've said this before it's it's almost no matter the provocation I mean it was an extreme verbal provocation but it it's you know legally it's not an excuse for a physical battery uh in return um I guess the the circumstances are mitigating but they don't excuse the the fact that it was a violation and um really kind of a lack of the other people that were standing right there that kind of stop it as well so um unfortunate situation but it is violation I agree with all that's that's been said definitely um there's a need for deescalation at all times with um on the part of the staff and it's really in the the premises his best interest to be on top of this I mean they can't allow them their employees themselves to be provoked because this is same thing it's foreseeable they you're G to have jerks were trying to provoke you and you saw it here it was clearly the guy's plan as soon as you got he he he's calling the police you know so yeah it's it's not only in our interest to enforce it it's in their interest to be to be on top of it as well sounds like there was a vote for a violation um as as to uh the disposition of the violation as to the disposition um I did take into consideration the mitigating circumstances um and what was done afterwards however I still find a warning uh I still find a violation my vote would be for a written warning I think a warning is perfect violation with a warning item number seven UVM Inc doing business as bidy eares located at 141 Pearl Street date of the incident January 27th 2024 overcrowding 72 on mechanical count capacity 57 in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 section 64 and board's rule 1.03 J and 1.06 a and F uh for the overcrowding I see a violation yes I agree I know they're working towards getting their numbers changed but they knew this um my my vote is for a warning I agree I agree violation with a warning and item number eight McCarthy's Inc of Boston doing business as the pudding Stone Tavern loated at 1592 Tremont Street in Roxberry dat of the incident February 1st 2024 overcrowding 87 on mechanical count capacity 73 in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 section 64 in boards rule 1.03 J and 1.06 a and F and persons under 21 in possession of alcohol in violation of Mass general laws chapter 138 sections 34A 34 C and 64- 64a taking the overcrowding first I see a violation yes my vote is for a warning on the overcrowding I agree I agree for the persons under 21 I see a violation there was eight of them I see a violation yes yes um I I was not convinced with the testimony that they had the proper measures in place our team did go back and check their scanner and they said the scanner did scan correctly some of these fake IDs but that's not in defense that being said um my vote is for a 4-day suspension one day to be served three to be held in abeyance for six months similar to what we did with some recent ones um and the four day being because they we've just had them in for and we've had we spoke to them about over Reliance on the scanner and all that yes all right I didn't because I think the last one was quite similar we went with three but I can see an enhancement here considering the recent history is that the thought my thought was because it was eight people yeah up um versus what five the last time or something I think it was six last time yeah we actually did go through the record yesterday trying to Tre them the same way and I just think it's important message for the board to send that especially in these college neighborhoods they need need to put measures in place it's not okay to say that they were in there before 10:00 that they looked older um they need to really um button this up I think there's um maybe some followup that they need to do about their back door whether it's a yeah that seems to be a problem a push handle or there something to correct the hole that is clearly there sorry go ahead commissioner c yeah I think I think my sense of the situation there is that that uh you know the way between the inside and outside needs to be staffed at all times really uhuh yeah y absolutely is there something that the board would like to see related to the back door is there a correspondents would like to send regarding that how would we like to address the issue with the back door some kind of plan on what we could ask them to submit a plan I mean it's up to them to figure this out we've raised the issue we've drawn their attention to it we've discussed why we think it's not working for them uh we should ask for a written plan especially given the fact that they are this violation comes with a 4 day suspension okay so just to get the vote back on the record so what we de violation with a warning on the overcrowding on the under 21 violation and this was a 4-day suspension with one day to be served three to be held in Avance for six months right yes for six months great and the board also requests uh it sounds like some sort of a operations plan that will identify uh how they or that will detail how they identify patrons and how they will staff um that back door to ensure no one comes in uh unidentified yes right and and identify that to to Really spell that out it's to identify the underage people who have come in before the doormen came so if there's a wristband or whatever whatever they'd like to do but somehow they need to be identified so that's a plan that we are asking them to uh submit to the board how to identify patrons uh especially those who have come in before the doorman arrived and how to properly staff the back door thank you thank you moving on to the transactional hearing which occurred yesterday Wednesday April 3rd 2024 item number one e ahg Boston 2 TRS LLC located at 90 Tremont Street as a petition to change the manager to Patrick herck I vote to approve Mr herck is manager of record I believe he has the appropriate character and fitness to serve I agree I agree item number two dongy hot pot Inc doing business as Dynasty restaurant located at 14 Hudson Street as petition to change the manager to William janman Fong has petition to change the corporate name to Dynasty Restaurant Inc has petitioned for a change of officers directors and has petitioned for a change in stock interest I vote to approve Mr Wang as manager of record um I also vote to approve uh the change in corporate name and the change of offices directors and the stock change I agree on all I agree thank you item number three Harvard Club of Boston located at 374 to 380 Commonwealth AV has petitioned to amend the description of the licens business to four rear entrances on Newbury Street in pole building with 700 capacity at Harvard Hall 351 capacity at assembly 49 capacity at veritus Lounge 86 capacity at veritus dining room 210 capacity at second floor banquet dining 114 capacity at third floor Club room 95 capacity at Lower Level Club pub with an annual patio on private property with seating for 36 and closing at 10:30 p.m. I vote to approve this I think this is a great example of our temporary patio program becoming permanent something the Administration has worked really hard for and our our office has been a part of my vote is to um approve this patio I vote to approve as well I agree you item number four Fuente Cleaning Services Inc doing business as bis Columbia located at 28 Bennington Street in East Boston uh he has petitioned to transfer the license to zaak KF L LLC doing business as bis Columbia at the same location laara peran manager 2 am closing hour I vote to approve Miss peran as manager of record I believe she meets the character and fitness requirements and the transfer oh yeah yes I also vote to approve the transfer I do as well I agree you item number five next Corporation doing business as ODB lickers located at 732 Huntington Avenue in Mission Hill has petition to transfer the license to 732 Brigham Inc doing business as briam lickers at the same location charvak Carpe manager 11: PM closing hour I vote to approve Mr carp's manager of record I believe he's the appropriate character Fitness to serve and I also vote to approve the transfer at the same location I agree I agree you item number six Blue Nile Inc doing business as Blue Nile Restaurant located at 389 Center Street in Jamaica plane has petitioned to transfer the license to bezza McKenzie LLC doing business as Blue Nile at the same location theodor's testy manager 1200 a.m. closing hour and has petitioned to pledge the license to Blue Nile Inc I vote to approve the transfer at the same location and to approve the pledge and to approve M Mr tesi as manag of record I believe he is the appropriate character and fitness to serve I agree I agree item number seven Commonwealth Market Inc doing business as tropical located at 1090 Commonwealth AV has petitioned to transfer the license to shippy's retail Inc doing business as Commonwealth Market at the same location goind Patel manager 11:00 p.m. closing hour and is petitioned to pledge the license and inventory to Rockland Trust company I vote to approve the transfer at the same location to approve the pledge in inventory and also to approve Mr Patel as manager of record I agree I agree item number eight metamorphosis LLC doing business as metamorphosis located at 1153 Washington Street in matapan has petitioned to transfer the license to LM wines and spirits LLC doing business as LM Wines and Spirits at the same location jeppi arari manager 11: p.m. closing hour has also petitioned to change the category of the license to a retail package store all alcoholic beverages license and as petition to remove the condition from the license which states as agreed beer and wine shall be contained within no more than onethird of the public area of the license premise uh in general I I I do uh support this transfer the same location and Mr aari's manager record he's already been approved by the board I I support removing the conditions um I would like them to come back when it is ready to be built out or open and have another Community process it's hard this is going to right now when you look at it there's nothing there to actually discuss I'd like to see a floor plan and a security and operations plan I don't oppose the transfer at this location right now I think we need more process when they're ready to open okay so where does this application stand like are you you voting to approve it yes approve the transfer but I would like to note I would I I vote to approve it I'm not uh I don't want to slow it down or or stop it but I would like them to come back to the board and share their uh floor plan share their security and operations plan when they actually have a space um sounds like they're it's going to be part of a new construction and I'd like to see how that fits into the overall building plan okay I agree with that I agree thank you and just just to State this uh they may be coming back for an alteration of premise depending on what the buildout looks like so chairman you're saying if that is not the case you would still like them to come back and present what the Yeah because the testimony yesterday was the building's being torn down yeah I mean they're definitely altering the premise yeah so they they should come back I I just I want to be able to see see how they're going to be operating how many registers are going to be you know where the entrances and exits are going to be what else is in the building you know makes sense great so the application is granted and the board requests that they do come back uh when uh they are closer to opening to review their floor plan security and operations plan and what the layout will look like yes I have no issue with the public need of this type of license here looking at that neighborhood it's not overly saturated with pack store licenses so right thank you item number nine immersive Art Space Boston LLC located at 130 Columbus AV has petitioned to transfer the license and the location to Post Road company LLC doing business as Hill Kitchen located at 39 Charles Street Jason and delado manager 2 am closing hour and has also petitioned to change the license type to a section 12 restaurant uh the board received correspondence this morning that the applicant did meet with the Beacon Hill civic association last night who voted to oppose the application the applicant is also now requesting that the board defer its vote uh to allow for further Community process okay the vote to defer yes moving on to non- hearing transactions the following are applying for a new common victual license at a previously licensed location item one Chinatown gongcha Inc doing business as gongcha located at 40 Harrison a manager minu Chen hours of operation 11:00 a.m. to 10: p.m. I vote to approve I agree I agree item two magdala Restaurant Inc doing business as magdala restaurant located at 1296 Blue Hill AV in matapan manager Jean Nelson hours of operation 9:00 a.m. to 11: p.m. I vote to approve I agree item three an Mo LLC doing business as Cafe Quattro located at 817 Harrison AV in Roxbury manager Mohamed morched hours of operation 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. I vote to approve I agree I agree and item number four spring LLC doing business as Spring located at 90 Peterboro Street manager Chun Chang taao hours of operation 10: am to 900m I vote to approve I agree I agree the following have applied to make changes to their existing common vitler license item one press Juicery Inc located at 288 Newbury Street has petitioned to change the officers of the licensed business to William kitchen as manager Justin needleman as president and CEO Deborah moros as secretary and Gregory Williams as CFO I vote to approve I do as well I agree and item number two habib's lounge doing business as habib's Lounge located at 1217 Commonwealth AV in Alon has a petition to update the capacity of the licensed business to 96 people um this was based on uh construction and revive numbers from ISD and Boston fire I vote to approve I agree I agree following has applied for a one-day amendment to their existing license timeout Market LLC doing business as timeout Market located at 401 Park Drive has applied to extend uh their license onto their contiguous lawn for a Wayfair promotional event on May 8th from 6 p.m. to 10m I vote to approve I agree board has before them a list of applications for special one-day alcoholic beverages licenses which have been administratively reviewed by staff and approved by the board we have one item for a vote on old and new business uh this transactional item was deferred to confirm uh Patio hours at similar establishments on Newbury Street which has been provided to the board this is a transfer from uh sorry this is an alteration of premise SS Investments Inc doing business as dirty water Dough Company located at 222 Newbury Street has petition to amend the description of the license to in one room on the first floor kitchen and storage in the rear with a seasonal May to October outdoor patio on public property 180 squ fet on Street 84 s f feet on sidewalk with a closing hour of 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday with patrons off by 10 p.m. and the closing hour of 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday with patrons off at 11: p.m. I vote to approve I do as well thank you I agree thank you very much those are all of the items before the the board this morning and that will adjourn this hearing uh thank you all and have a great rest of your day thank you