Magnolia Bakery Denied Permit for Sidewalk Cafe
by Avi - February 8, 2010 at 10:04 am -
Magnolia cupcake-lovers, your empire is in peril.
Community Board 7 voted last week against renewing Magnolia Bakery’s license to have an enclosed sidewalk cafe at its West 69th Street location. The board voted 20 to 13 against the application, ruling that “The sidewalk space is totally inadequate for pedestrian traffic with the cafe in place.”
The cafe, which opened in January 2008, got approval that March from the community board to have an enclosed cafe. But the board changed its opinion at last Tuesday’s meeting. The problem is that Magnolia is not using the cafe area in the way that the board says they had initially expected.
When the first license (or “revocable consent” in government-speak) got approved, the Community Board said the cafe area that juts into the street should have tables and chairs, but the cafe area is now used largely for lines of people waiting to get cupcakes. The bakery owners argued that if there were no lines inside the store, people would be waiting outside, according to minutes from a subcommittee meeting.
In denying the cafe, the board noted that the sidewalk was too narrow where Magnolia juts out and added this:
“The cafe was designed in violation of the rules for enclosed sidewalk cafes, with the bakery counter installed at the building line, causing all customers to stand throughout the café and leaving little room for the tables and chairs.
The cafe thus violates every reasonable spatial requirement for a cafe (despite being attractively designed and well managed).”
So will Magnolia have to dismantle its cafe, or otherwise reconfigure the bakery? Not necessarily. The city’s Department of Consumer Affairs actually grants the license and it listens to a variety of agencies, including the departments of planning and transportation. The community board’s vote is an important recommendation, but it’s not final. The City Council can also vote on the application. The whole long and convoluted process is described here, if you’re interested. Magnolia hasn’t responded to us about this yet, but we’ll let you know if they do. (photo by Avi)
Community Board people… wake up. Finally you have a retailer who draws a crowd, and then you hamper their ability to do business? Their customers’ impulse-buy at other stores and keep the area vital. In less you’ve been living on the moon, how can a bakery stay in business unless they draw crowds when rents are through the roof. If you want less crowded streets, move to Chapaqua.
Buy a cup of coffee and a cupcake and chill out already. (I bet you do, and then complain about the lines). You can’t have it both ways.
[...] Their applications go before the community board’s transportation committee Tuesday night, (though the board has not looked kindly on cafes lately). Bon appetit! Post [...]
What is wrong with the photo? There are no embarrassed people standing outside with cupcakes stuffed into their faces wishing they could sit down with a coffee and pretend they are just having a small snack. Please help us! We want to sit down and not on the curb.
[...] Community Board 7 denied Magnolia’s request to keep its sidewalk cafe at a board meeting last …, raising the possibility that the cafe would have to be demolished. Essentially they said, the cafe is too wide and it’s really hard to get by. They also said that it was supposed to be used for seating, but now it’s mostly used for the long lines that fill the store. [...]
[...] The community board voted against Magnolia’s renewal license to operate a sidewalk cafe at 69th Street and Columbus Avenue last month, putting the cupcake emporium in jeopardy. As we reported last week, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer decided to overrule the board and let the license go through unopposed. Abrams says the business employs 50 people, making a combined $1.2 million, and serves 900 customers a day, according to NBC.com. [...]