Nightlife entrepreneurs Sean McGarr and Michael Sinensky, the team behind the Village Pourhouse nightlife chain, sought a liquor license at last night’s CB 2 meeting for their plan to turn the cavernous former Circle in the Square Theater at 159 Bleecker Street into a “world class” barbeque restaurant with smoked meats by Daisy May’s BBQ. Despite McGarr’s claim that the $3 million “family-style” eatery would bring 75 new jobs to New York once construction begins, CB2’s SLA committee split in a 3-3 vote.
The tie came after two residents said the project was outsized in scope and would bring too much traffic to an already bar-saturated, congested block. “There are 52 liquor licenses on that block,” said Shannon Turee of the Bleecker Area Merchants and Residents Association(BAMRA). McGarr told us he and his partner will appear before the full CB2 board later this month to plead their case again, adding: “We have to do a better job to get people to support us.”
