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Mattapan hot-dog stand gets in hot water for staying open too late one night
By adamg on Fri, 10/03/2014 - 3:02pm
Simco's, 1509 Blue Hill Ave., will have to serve a one-day suspension after a police lieutenant found it open 45 minutes past its licensed 1 a.m. closing time one night in August.
The Boston Licensing Board ordered the punishment after Lt. Det. Eric Eversley testified at a Tuesday hearing that when he drove past the venerable stand around 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 9, he found the place humming: Not only were there eight to ten patrons waiting in line, there were cars double parked out front and there was even a guy selling CDs on the sidewalk.
Simco's is only licensed to stay open until 1 a.m.
Manager Denise Fotopoulos apologized to the board."It got really busy" that night, she said. "The oven was just so full of pizzas and other things, and we just got stuck."
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Comments
They were 15 mins away from
They were 15 mins away from unlicensed dance breaking out. Thanks GOD the officer was able to intervene.
The horror!
Serving food after 1 AM. How terrible.
No horror. Nothing terrible.
The place is licensed to stay open only until 1:00am.
Clearly this is the first big
Clearly this is the first big step in the inevitable breakdown of our society of law....
If he gets up, we'll all get up, it'll be anarchy!
n/t
"...there was even a guy selling CDs on the sidewalk."
Love the anecdote about the CD hawker.
But look, clearly there is a market for them to be open later than 1 AM. Are there complaints from neighbors about this?
Yes, there has been in the
Yes, there has been in the past.
Simco's is an institution and should be
open until whatever time to meet its customers needs. Where my seafood platter at?
It's a 1am closing for a
It's a 1am closing for a reason
Because eating after 1 am
Because eating after 1 am causes Gremlins.
What Reason?
The drunk, "let's get food!",
The drunk, "let's get food!", After leaving the bar crowd.
That's Ridiculous! - Kelly's Is Open Until 3:00 AM
I live around the corner from Kelly's (Revere Beach at Oak Island) and they're open until 3:00 AM every Friday and Saturday (2:00 AM the rest of the week). There's never any problem, and it's an incredibly quiet neighborhood.
Patrons are grateful to have someplace open where they can get hot food at that time of night. Of course, some people are on their way home from partying; others are on their way home from a hard days (and/or nights) work. I don't see anyone unpleasantly drunk or otherwise unruly.
Those of you who think nothing good ever happens after 9:00 PM really ought to get out more often!
Read what sunny writes on this page
And remember that he lives on Walk Hill Street (you remember, with the recycling guy leaving the barrel in front of his truck while he was leaving.)
Yes, it's a shame that it's not open until 3, but this is an example of "why we can't have good things anymore."
I have been there late at
I have been there late at night and have witnessed different groups of people ( some intoxicated) getting into arguments.
Have you been to Simco's late?
Sunny Mentioned Shootings, But Shootings Happen When It's Sunny
I believe most of the trouble that occurs when the bars close, happens because the bars close. By setting an arbitrary time, some people over-imbibe; drinking as much as they can right before closing. It's idiotic to force everyone to leave the premises, right at the height of their intoxication!
Stop serving alcohol at an arbitrary time if you must, but at least allow businesses to sell food and non-alcoholic beverages, whenever people are hungry and thirsty.
Don't you think food makes people happier and less likely to argue with others?
Oh, and if Simco's is the only place open, then if any arguments happen, they're bound to occur there! That's not their fault; there ought to be plenty of places open where ordinary people can get something to eat.
Great suggestions....
When the bars close, the employees want to clean up and go home. They do not want people hanging around. Some bars do sell food, and the ones that don't probably don't want to deal with the headache of hiring a cook and servers. Also, you would need to have permits to serve food. Are you suggesting the bar industry in Boston change because Simco's was opened past their licensed hours?
McDonalds in N Quincy is open 24 hours, that's another hot spot for after bars. They do have a cop in the parking lot late night.
So more eateries should be open late at night to avoid people arguing? Can't imagine the businesses would make a lot of money in those couple of hours. If more places are open, there will be less patrons. Im willing to bet places don't want to be open late because of the problems that occur with the late night crowd.
manipulation
The people double parked and the guy selling CDs is not the fault of the stand owner...
...but the Boston Licensing Board probably thinks so because its full of cranky, knee-jerk solution wanting townies.
No, and the lieutenant didn't state it as such
Simco's was not charged with anything for the CD seller or double parking (license holders can be held liable for the condition of the sidewalk outside their premises, for example, to keep it clear for passersby, but that would be a separate item on the citation). The lieutenant pointed out the double parking and the CD seller just to show how busy the place was 45 minutes past its legal closing time.
Double parking?
Without it involving a church or funeral home?
sigh
I swear the BLB "detectives" need a new hobby. Seriously..
Look I get why they were cited, but come on folks. This is getting annoying now. Can we please FIX this so business can be allowed to stay open past 1am without it take an act of god to get approval?
Boston being a world class city.. my ass. Please if the Olympics come (and I sure hope they don't), they'll see how lame we are and we'll be the laughing stock of the world. Sad day when Atlanta has a far better nightlife (after 10pm) than Boston ever did or ever will be.
Did they ever request it?
I mean, it's fine to get the righteous indignation going if Simco's has asked to stay open until 2 AM and been denied for any one of the countless reasons why they might get denied unfairly.
However, if they were told "you get to stay open until 1 AM" and they just ignore that and stay open late without saying "how about 2, please?" and get busted doing so, then I don't see what the issue is.
Dunno
I don't recall them asking to extend their hours any time recently, but I don't manage to get to every single board hearing.
Why shuld they have to ask?
Market forces should be reasonable for determining operating hours. If Simco's operating after 1AM is a public nuisance, then cite them for that, not for being open past an arbitrary time.
[edit to correct autocorrect BS]
The issue
I get your point but I think my overall point is year after year we see this stuff go on. Lots of hearings, lots of BS being tossed around. Lots of "no you can't" from the BLB... and I'm not just talking about Simco here. Hell even McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts have a hard time to fight to stay open later. And frankly, that's just sad for a city of our size.
Its time to loosen the puritanical belt that Boston seems to have wrapped around its head to allow itself to grow into the 'world class city' that everyone seems to think Boston is (but really is not). Like I said, it's sad when far smaller cities like Atlanta or Baltimore have far better "stuff at night" scene than boston could ever dream of.
Its just the same story over and over and over again. Let the businesses do what suits their customers needs without the 'act of god' that needs to happen. No I am not staying they can do what they want, but as I said before, it shouldn't take an act of god to extend business hours or worry that if you're open a few minutes past your closing time that you're going to get hauled in front of the licensing board.
I'm sure Ill be slammed by people for this, but the story just gets old. It's like a broken record.
I think one can, at the same
I think one can, at the same time, agree with you that the rules need to be loosened on a lot of these restrictions BUT also feel that a business should still abide by its license as it currently stands until change happens.
What is the societal ill that merits such resource expenditure?
That's what I can't quite figure out here.
Also, what do other cities do? We see this farce and assume that Boston is out of line, but we don't see what other circuses are out there.
This is exactly the sort of thing that needs to be subjected to cost and benefit analyses.
Soooo...
Lets get input from the folks that live down the block who might have to listen to noisy patrons and car stereos past 1AM and if they're ok with it, then extend the hours. And oh, yeah, the BPD overnight shift that will occasionally have to deal with some issue there, some costs to that. All of which could be dealt with at a BLB hearing if Simco's requests a 2AM closing. Down the road, BLB could always roll back the closing time if there are are complaints.
The Problem, For Some
If a business is located in or very near a residential neighborhood, moving the closing time may adversely affect the quality of life for some residents. Noise, for instance, may prevent a reasonable expectation of a sound sleep.
Now, having lived near Simco's for over 35 years, I'd say that isn't truly a big problem concerning this establishment. It's Simco's ON THE BRIDGE, which means it is reasonably removed from any residential area (unless things have changed drastically since I moved to Watertown and they now have apartment houses ON THE BRIDGE.)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
1:00 , what happened ? That
1:00 , what happened ? That place used to open til 2:30 or 3:00 ......
Shootings and after-club
Shootings and after-club chaos happened.
Back In The Day...
My parents would roll on up there as late as could be I'm sure.
I love Simco's Hot Dogs But..
They were just pushing the envelope. They are not new to this. Some of you may not realize that Simco's was once open until 3am but attracted trouble despite having police details. Too many people shooting and too many people wanting to continue the party after the clubs closed for the night.
I know it seems so appealing to those of you who want to drop in at 2am to grab a hot dog and write in your blog about how cool it is, but for those who live around a late closing establishment, it is a pain in the rear.
Agreed. The convenience of
Agreed. The convenience of your being able to get junk food at 2 am on the one or two days of the year (five years? decade?) that you actually feel moved to do so, really should not trump the quality of life of people who live with a noisy neighbor every day.
Late night = World Class?
I'm not sad that Boston isn't more like Atlanta or Baltimore. If people want to party longer, they can always start earlier.
As for late night places to get a hot dog and other delights, keep in mind that people often live nearby. Where there are cars, there are loud stereos and open windows. Residents shouldn't have to tolerate that until 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning, or until whatever hour market forces dictate that hot dogs can be sold.
World class? Boston has plenty going for it. Do we have to be a late night party capital to feel legit? I don't think so. I appreciate what we have going here, even with the shortcomings. We have a much better overall quality of life than the cities mentioned above and many other places where you can buy a 3 am hot dog.
I had a couple of Simco's chili dogs the other day, with yellow
mustard and raw onions. And we shared a big box of fried clams. It was awesome, but it was lunchtime, so all perfectly legal.
Guys, cut BPD some slack here.
Clearly this is the worst thing that has ever happened in Mattapan.
Chinatown
Look how many shootings have occurred outside of Chinatown Restaurants. Rival gangmembers out for some cold Tea,
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/17/four-injured-chinatown-shoot...
What will their buddies say, though?
I mean, cops are one class of people who work late nights and overnights. I wonder if these officers will regret this? (oh, man - YOU BUSTED SIMCO'S!!! Seriously?)
Simco's
2 plainclothes officers in unmarked car just stopped by around 1:30 to get them to shut the joint down for the night lol
This is why i cant wait to
This is why i cant wait to leave Boston. The rules here are so stupid who really shuts down things at 1am? Whats the big deal. This city is so far behind. I cannot wait till i get my money right and move to Bangkok where streets stands are open till 5am and you can pick up women at all hours. More fun there than this strict place
There's no good reason to regulate hours of non-alcohol business
Since Simco's sells only food, and not beer or wine, they cannot be the cause of any problems for the neighborhood. Also, they're on a major artery, not in a residential area.
(and if people also want to buy and sell CDs at 1:30 am, what's wrong with that?)
Kays oasis
If Simco is getting watched closely I have to ask why Kays oasis isnt. I lived next door to it for five years and it was outrageously loud from 10pm to 2 am three to four nights a week with patrons trashing the streets and making all sorts of noise when leaving the place after 2am. There were a few shootings too. The day I was moving out they had an after party for a funeral that ended up with crowds drinking from hard alcohol bottles on the sidewalk while I was trying to load my uhaul....This was about 2pm! Three blocks from the police station and cops overlook it.