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Police oppose proposed South Station liquor store
By adamg on Fri, 04/07/2023 - 11:21am
Transit Police say they remain as opposed to a proposed full-service liquor store at South Station as they were to a smaller liquor kiosk proposed last year.
Nobody from Transit or Boston Police testified at a Wednesday hearing on the proposed Land of Beer, Wine & Spirit, which would replace the closed Tavitas Mexican restaurant, but TPD Deputy Superintendent Richard Sullivan said that's because nobody alerted them to the hearing.
"I met with the owner at South Station last year [during his withdrawn quest for a liquor kiosk] and walked him through all the reasons this would be detrimental to our South Station community and our riding public," Sullivan said. He said the company did not alert TPD it would be applying for an even larger space.
He said that Wednesday night, after learning of the hearing, "I submitted a letter of strong opposition to the Licensing Board," to a liquor store in the busy crowded transit hub and urged the board to reject the application.
Thursday, the board voted to defer any action after the company, which does run a liquor store in New York's Penn Station, said it wanted more time to speak to Leather District residents.
Watch the Wednesday hearing:
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Comments
Credit Card Charges
I was going over my credit card charges for a train trip I took last week, and I bought a soda at a stand inside South Station.
Ironically the place I bought it from showed up on my credit card as:
LAND OF BEER
700 ATLANTIC AVE
BOSTON
MA
02111
Yet they don't sell any beer. In fact, most of the shelves were empty except a few sandwiches and soda. Seems like they were all ready to setup shop and then didn't....
That's where they were going to offer grab-and-go liquor
But then they withdrew their application for liquor, but kept the kiosk.
yeah
Thats what I kinda meant.. looks like they setup shop for beer, but then didn't. But kept the name on the merchant account anyways.
Also 3.75 for 16oz Diet Coke? Gotta make up that $ somehow.
the existence (and prices) of
the existence (and prices) of that store is baffling when there's a CVS inside the station 50 feet away. I can't recall seeing anyone actually buying anything at it.
To my defense
CVS wasn't open yet, as my train boarded at 7:15. (CVS opens at 7, which would have left little time if there was a line)
Plus McD's soda machine was out of order, so I needed something to wash down my egg mcmuffin. (I already had an iced coffee, but I like something non-coffee while I eat)
Trust me, I despise being gouged and try to bring stuff from elsewhere. Not that CVS is any cheaper.. 2.50 for a 16oz Diet Coke, when you can buy an entire two litre for 2.99.
I was in the South station
I was in the South station waiting room for the first time in weeks recently. I saw that kiosk. I very much got the vibe of cut-rate Pret a Manger. (Pret had that kiosk previously). New operation seems to stock a lot of beverages, but not much in the way of sandwiches.
Same.
It did have that feeling. Sorta like when a low-rate store moves into a space of a previous store and doesn't change a thing about it, except the sign. (think Ocean State in Medford... it still looks like Stop & Shop)
The thing that got me was how many closed kiosks there were. The newspaper stand is gone. And from the looks of it, except for McD. The food court is pretty much closed.
(yes I know, pandemic issues but sheesh.. lots of unused retail)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right now - Dunks, imitation Pret, the bar (or is it the coffee side?), Au Bon Pain, the place next to Au Bon Pain (Sunrise?), some sort of combination Carvel/pretzel stand, McDonald's, Regina, and the Asian food place are open. Cosi, Cajun-Cajun, the quesadilla place off the side of Cajun-Cajun, the chocolates/bakery counter, two iterations of bookshop, another pizza place, and the newsstand (!!??) are closed. Plus the restaurant and its predecessor bar with the animatronic NOT- Norm & Cliff. Plus some of the kiosks that used to be on either side of the stairs/escalator down to the Red Line (and the shoe repair shop (is that still open?))
Au Bon Pain... I've been wondering for 20-25 years how they're still in business anywhere, because it's at least that long ago their peak was. I'm forced to conclude that either (a) they have photos of somebody, or (b) they're actually geniuses at finding their lane and sticking in it.
Au bon pain mourant
Au bon pain mourant, which in french means "Daily Dying Bread"
because thats what that chain is doing.. dying a slow death. So many locations have closed.. I think all that is left are like 4 in the Boston area. When they used to be far more than that. And until June of 2021, they were owned by Panera... which was started by Au Bon's founder after he left. They closed a ton of stores during their ownership or converted them to Panera.
I guess they are still pretty big overseas.. just not here. And tbh I think most are in Airports and Malls.
They just aren't that great anymore when there are better options out there. Of course, except in South Station.
Remind me again
Why we care about the Transit Police's opinion on such matters?
Agreed.
Police have a difficult job, but their opinion should be far down the list in these matters. We have a regulatory process to deal with irresponsible liquor store owners.
We shouldn’t be denying licenses based on speculative harm. It’s the same issue that rears its ugly head with extending restaurant and bar service past 2 am. I understand it would make life easier for police if everyone was home asleep at 2 am, but we should not create urban life and communities based on that premise.
We're adults, ya know
We're adults, ya know.
Why should we allow a few rotten apples spoil it for the rest of us.
People who would be causing said issues are gonna get their booze elsewhere. And they don't have to go very far to get it. A quick jaunt across the Congress St bridge, there is a convenience store that sells booze. And that is the one I know of nearby, I am sure there are others in the leather district and Chinatown that are even closer.
But people who cause these issues are still going to cause these issues whether there's a liquor store there or not. The commuters are not the issue here, folks.
I think TPD don't want to do their jobs and actual patrol the station, which it desperately needs to happen. If there was a liquor store there, they might actually have to patrol to make sure that issues do not arise. Gosh for bid they get out of their cars and like.. do real beat work.
With this, constant close calls with being run over by cars who ignore traffic rules, and a host of other things local police AREN'T doing. Starting to really wonder where our tax dollars are going. They ain't patrolling. They ain't doing their jobs. Oh right, the tax dollars are going toward oozies, riot gear, and ammosexual hardon inducing weapons.. and not actual people who would forced to patrol.
Not sure if I want to know.
What exactly are the police "oozing?"
me spelling sucks
Uzi's I mean.
Remind, that’s why your
Remind, that’s why your opinion matters
TPD would support banning
TPD would support banning transit itself if they could. Their main concern is napping in their cruisers out at Riverside.
Really?
You can’t figure out why the people charged with maintaining law and order at South Station might want to weigh in on off premises alcohol being sold?
We get why they want to way in
We just disagree that their opinion should matter in this particular instance.
Especially given that people who want to buy booze and drink it on a train can do so at any number of other places (including, on some trains, on the train itself!)
The issue isn't train passengers
It's those who, um, let's just say linger in the station all day long. Perhaps some of them might have issues with alcoholism and perhaps the Transit Police have to deal with the effects of the fondness for the drink they have. Making it that much easier to get booze would be a concern of those who police the facility.
What happens after people board Amtrak trains is on the Amtrak police. It is worth noting that Adam regularly posts about what may just be alcohol fueled incidents on the subway, but I'm not even going there. I am talking about what happens in the station.
Okay, let me say the magic
Okay, let me say the magic word and consult the wisdom of Solomon for a moment....
I have it!
Booze vending machines on each platform to dispense cans of beer, small wine bottles, small bottled cocktails - vending machine can be enabled for a drink purchase only after scanning a smartphone barcode/qrt from a passenger's activated smartphone ticket on our marvelous new fare collection system!!!
Supt Sullivan
The Transit Police chief and the rest of the department are invisible, Sullivan seems to be everywhere.
Nostalgia
The old Dewey Square Liquors adjacent to South Station in the 70s and early 80s. Us punks of the time would stock up in there before heading to Gallery East.
Having been told at a BAIA
Having been told at a BAIA meeting by the community representative of the Boston Police that the official position of the agency is no new Liquor or Cannabis Stores in the city this does not surprise me.
South Station has gotten so
South Station has gotten so gnarly, the security there doesnt even try to deal with loiterers and the mentally ill who call that place home.
There is a woman who seems ro live in the ladies room now, and no matter what time of day you go in there, she's crying in a stall and muttering to herself or outright screaming at the top of her lungs. Oh, and constantly flushing the toilet.
If you tell security that there's a woman screaming in the bathroom they just shrug and say, "what else is new"
That's mental health care in Mass these days.