Oversaturation of Bars? Blasphemy!

The Daily News's Dorian Block reports that Community Board 6, which includes Belmont, East Tremont, and Fordham, is pushing to cease the awarding of liquor licenses to any new businesses in the area.

While not overtly stated, it's pretty obvious to this ex-Fordham bar crawler that part of the reason they are seeking this moratorium is because they're sick of Fordham students clogging the streets of Belmont/Little Italy making noise at 2am.

Hmmmm, tricky scenario. While it must be annoying to live above one of the FU bars, it's pretty harsh to fight for a ruling that makes it extremely difficult for new businesses to obtain a liquor license. The board says they are not targeting new restaurants, but I fail to see how they would not affected. Does this seem like a good decision in terms of economic stimulation in the Belmont area? No sirree.

I'd also like to point out that although there are certainly negatives that the Fordham students bring to the Belmont area late at night, they (and their families) also spend a lot of money in the hood. The economic boost they give by spending money in the restaurants, bakeries, food stores, and coffee shops shouldn't be overlooked.

Fordham students are also heavily involved in community service throughout the Bronx, and particularly in the Belmont area. So this blogger's official stance on this topic is: you have to take the good along with the bad. If you limit the amount of recreational options that are available to students, they will just head to Manhattan and spend their money there. It's a slippery slope... If a message is sent that their presence is not appreciated, the area could feel a major economic hit.

~ErLu