Hey, there! Log in / Register
JP Chinese take-out place slammed for staying open too late
By adamg on Tue, 09/09/2014 - 1:02pm
Boston Licensing Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer lambasted the owner of Young Kong, 300 Centre St., today for being found open at 2:20 a.m. on Aug. 3 - an hour and 20 minutes past the place's licensed 1 a.m. closing time.
Owner Linda Pan said she had to leave early that night because her son fell ill at home. With only one car in the family, her parents remained behind at the restaurant - and continued to take orders even as BPD Lt. Det. Eric Eversley was standing at the counter, writing up the citation that resulted in today's hearing. Eversley noted that menus on the counter showed a closing time of 1:30 a.m.
Ferrer said she was sympathetic to the plight of a sick child, but said it didn't matter - Pan should have told her parents to close up promptly at 1 a.m.
"This is not the first time," Young Kong has gotten in trouble for staying open too late, she said. Sick child or no, staying open after 1 a.m. is against the law. And those menus with the 1:30 a.m. closing time? "That's false advertising," Ferrer told Pan. "That's actually against the law."
Pan apologized. She said she never realized the menus said 1:30 a.m. and that she had always told customers closing time was 1 a.m. She said she would find a new printer to print up new menus. Ferrer told her she had to throw out the current menus immediately.
The board decides Thursday what action, if any, to take.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
now that we've eliminated
now that we've eliminated gang violence and sexual assault in the hub, we definitely need to crack down on people buying food late a night
Darth, I am your son!
OK, from the broken-record department:
The lieutenant in question was patrolling his neighborhood for the night (he normally works out of Hyde Park) and saw this place open past what he thought was its normal closing time, so he went in to check. Fortunately, most nights, even in Jackson Square, there's not much happening at 2:20 a.m., so it's not like he was diverted from a murder scene or something while spending the five minutes (if that much) to write a citation (also, for what it's worth, he used to be head of the licensing unit - the three-man licensing unit, in a department with roughly 1,200 officers, so, yes, he's familiar with closing-time issues).
Closing hours are not just set at random. Every restaurant in the city has to apply for a food-serving license and they have to say what time they want to close. Then they have to go through a hearing before the local community group(s) before going before the licensing board, which, based on what the community says, if anything, sets the closing time.
If a restaurant decides that time isn't working for it, it can re-apply to the licensing board. The guy who owns the McDonald's in Allston and Brighton has done this several times in recent years to get his hours extended; it's not like it's some dark, secret process.
If you don't think that's appropriate, and you think restaurants should be able to open until whatever time they feel like opening, hey, the licensing board is going to be appointed by the mayor soon - go lobby him.
I recognize the legal process
I recognize the legal process is in place....and I will continue to oppose such stupid requirements in the face of NIMBYism and special interests. I just think that: A) the process discriminates against small businesses that don't have the resources to fight the licensing board and B) people need to grow the fuck up. I live on a busy street next to a 24 hr restaurant and above a bar. I like to sleep with the windows open. Yes I occasionally get woken up by some drunk screaming or launching fireworks. Do you know what I do? I roll over and go back to sleep, I don't demand the city restrict business hours. If you want to live like that go live out in the boonies...and not in Jackson Square.
I completly agree
But the law is the law. The right thing for the restaurants and the general public to:
1. Lobby to get these stupid laws changed and
2. SHOW UP AT HEARINGS AND SUPPORT THE BUSINESS!
The wrong thing to do is disregard the laws and just do what you want.
It's unreasonable to want to sleep?
Man you have a strange set of priorities. People move into certain neighborhoods because they don't want to be awakened by people idling in front of 24 hour restaurants, etc. Some people have children. It's not at all unreasonable to no allow any and all businesses in this city to be open however late they want. It's not NIMBYism to want to live in an area that isn't full of people 24/7. It's called a normal residential area. If a bar tried to open up next door to my house you bet your ass I'd go to the licensing hearing to protest it. I'm awakened by drunks in the middle of the night enough as it is without their being a bar open till 1 next door. Thanks anyway.
Move out of the city. Simple
Move out of the city. Simple. There are plenty of places where you can live and not have to be bothered by your neighbors, the city isn't one of them.
Here's a better idea
Move to a place where the restaurants close at 1 AM.
Oh, wait, that's what the people in Jackson Square did.
There are parts of Boston where late closings make sense, and would be good. I don't see Jackson Square falling into that category.
Your argument makes no sense
So by living in the city I'm saying "Hey everyone! Come by my house and be loud, obnoxious and drunk at any hour you please!!?"
Really? No, not really. In every city there are quiet parts, and noisy parts. That's how cities work. People who want to live in the quiet parts move to them, and have an issue with them becoming noisy parts. It's pretty simple, and not at all unreasonable to think that your quiet neighborhood could and should stay that way.
anyone know if this place is
anyone know if this place is any good? i always go to food wall because it's a little closer.
Food Wall > *
Food Wall > *
Big news in "Springfield" too
Good thing the map was there since saying "Centre St" doesn't really narrow down the location that much.
I can see that maybe late night patrons would bother people trying to sleep nearby, but generally speaking, I think if people want to eat at 2 am, it should be OK to sell them food.
The pin is about right
Centre at Estrella
The "JP" in the headline didn't narrow it down enough?
OK, I could've said "Jackson Square" instead of "JP" ...
What's a "head line"?
Yeah I DID notice that after I had typed my snark. 1 point for you and none for me.
Fined for giving people what
Fined for giving people what they want, and our tax dollars being wasted to enforce restaurant closing times.
Has Ferrer never heard of....
... stickers. Or is demanding the menus be thrown out just an extra-legal, additional punishment?
They never bothered Ribs on
They never bothered Ribs on Wheels , open well after last calls............... ( that was when Jackson square was really Jackson square )
ugh
why do we care how late a restaurant is open anyway?
Because ...
Boston is this tiny, ancient little burrow of a city, where commercial districts are often crammed in the middle of residential neighborhoods where not everybody craves the excitement of Manhattan-style living and wants to be able to get a good night's sleep, and if they really wanted to live next to a 24-hour restaurant, they would've moved next to the South Street Diner.
Yes, I am running for president of the Allston Civic Association!
Every neighborhood is different. If some place in Downtown Crossing wants to stay open all night, who am I to say no? But that's not something I suspect people in Roslindale would want (disclosure: I live in a part of Roslindale that is so remote the nearest store of any kind is almost a mile away, so none of this will ever affect me directly).
The emphasis on neighborhood involvement in the whole licensing/zoning process is one of the things that makes Boston better than some other places - not that it can't be improved (it's kind of insane that a pizza place that serves takeout has to get a zoning variance to serve takeout even if it's replacing another pizza place that served takeout).
yes, but it is a CITY where
yes, but it is a CITY where commercial districts are often crammed in the middle of residential neighborhoods, and if you choose to live in one of these areas you should accept the fact that there might be other people around you who have different schedules and might want food later than you. These places are at the mercy of a handful of selected people who set limits on when they can and can't operate their business. If you want to live in the a nice quiet neighborhood, I hear the Brookfield's are beautiful this time of the year.
And as for "it's not like he was diverted from a murder scene or something while writing a citation", I've witnessed two separate shootings in the 4 or so years I've lived in the city (both during the day) and neither has been solved; but I've seen plenty resources directed towards enforcing closing times and ensuring hotel's don't hand you a glass of champagne upon checking in. It's a poor allocation of resources and the part of the reason Boston will never be a "World Class City"
Immigrants fleeing the
Immigrants fleeing the despotic rule of the Chinese communist party should be advised to seek freedom else where.