From left: 86 Bedford Street and Chumley’s interior before the 2007 closing
Neighbors have filed suit against the New York State Liquor Authority in an effort to keep Chumley’s, once a favorite watering hole of the city’s literati, from reopening in the West Village.
Area residents argue that the 86 Bedford Street site, where the pub’s facade was restored after a 2007 collapse, lacks any historic value and served primarily as “a major destination for tourists, undergraduates and barhopping bridge-and-tunnel partygoers,” in its last incarnation, according to the lawsuit. For that reason neighbors suffered “for years from the impact of the former Cumley’s,” it continued.
Because there are several bars within a 500-foot radius of the venue, the plaintiffs argue that the SLA should never have granted Chumley’s another liquor license in the first place. With so many in close proximity, they argue, a new license requires additional review.
The SLA did not immediately respond to DNAinfo’s request for comment. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland