Ian Schrager, who plans to move into his deluxe new condo building at 40 Bond Street, wants to keep the block nice and quiet. He and the developers of fancy residential buildings nearby—Tony Goldman (41–43 Bond), Adam Gordon (the Bouwerie Lane Theater building, at Bowery and Bond), and Don Capoccia (48 Bond)—agreed with Community Board 2’s request that they not house restaurants or nightclubs. Then they found out that the board’s business committee had in August endorsed AvroKO and Public principal Dan Rafalin’s liquor-license application for 26–28 Bond, where Rafalin’s group plans to open a two-story restaurant called Superior. Developers and residents teamed up, accusing the board of bad faith and of ignoring the city’s 500-feet-between-bars law. “This isn’t right; the developers played by the rules, and then we find out the rules have changed,” says Shelly Friedman, who represents Schrager, Gordon, and Capoccia. “There are more than enough bars on Bowery and Lafayette.” On September 20, the full board rejected Superior’s liquor-license application, overturning the committee’s endorsement. “The interests of the developers seem to align with interests of the community, which doesn’t happen too often,” says board chairman Brad Hoylman.

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
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