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NEW BEDFORD – The New Bedford Licensing Board voted against adopting legislation recently passed by the state to extend last call for bars until 3 a.m. or introduce new outdoor public consumption sites.
During their June 23 meeting, committee members Ricard Rezendes, Richard McCue, and James Dee voted unanimously to oppose the measures that Gov. Maura Healey signed into law to allow cities and towns to broaden some alcohol consumption laws until July 31.
In the public meeting, Rezendes mentioned lack of police resources, echoing public safety concerns cited by public information officer Jonathan Darling in the city’s decision not to propose a citywide extension of last call.
According to Mayor Jon Mitchell, the police chief recommended to the city not to extend last call. “At 3 a.m., it’s hard for us to have enough police staffing in place to adequately control crowds,” Mitchell said in a phone interview.
The city allows the purchase and consumption of alcohol outdoors in designated areas for the Summer Sound series — downtown concerts held Friday nights throughout the summer either on Lower Union Street or Purchase Street. However, the Licensing Board decided unanimously not to establish those zones as spaces for public consumption or expand public consumption of alcohol into other areas.
Vendors with the necessary liquor licenses in New Bedford can still sell alcohol outside during the Summer Sound series, but customers cannot purchase a beverage inside and bring it outdoors.
During the meeting, Rezendes said that he would like to hear input from residents in a proposed area before allowing public consumption of alcohol in that zone. The state legislation is set to expire on July 31, three days after the Licensing Board’s next meeting on July 28.
“We don’t have to rush into this,” Dee added. “If it’s going to be a pilot program, let [other cities] do the pilot program, because I guarantee you there’s going to be more problems.”
The Fall River Licensing Board voted on June 11 to extend last call by one hour for establishments across the city, but did not adopt public consumption of alcohol.
For Mitchell, the concerns of extended last call outweigh the limited benefits. He said New Bedford is not getting traffic from the World Cup like cities such as Foxborough or Providence, so there is little economic gain.
“I just don’t see a lot of soccer fans saying, ‘Hey, let’s stay out to 3 o’clock in the morning in New Bedford,’” Mitchell said in a phone interview.
Bartenders, owners were mixed on extending last call
Bartenders and bar owners in downtown New Bedford have different views about extending last call.
“In my opinion, any opportunity to let people know that New Bedford’s open for business should be embraced and marketed aggressively,” said Jason Lanagan, co-owner of Rose Alley Ale House, before the June 23 meeting.
He said that he supports extending last call, describing the legislation as a “symbolic gesture” for the World Cup celebrations that invites people to stay out later together.
Riley Shaughnessy, a bartender at Rose Alley, said, “If we stayed up until 3, we would be busy for it.”
On the other hand, Daichelle Herbert, a longtime bartender now at Moby Dick Brewing, had said she thought extending last call would be “dangerous.”
“People already leave the bars drunk now, so give another hour [and] they’d be really drunk,” she said.
Adam Katz, owner of Play Arcade, said that he would not want to extend last call at Play. He said Play has a liquor license until 2 a.m., but he has chosen to close at midnight — a decision that he said was part of COVID restrictions that stuck.
“We tried a few extensions, and people couldn’t figure out how to behave, so we decided that midnight’s our cut off,” he said. “It works out great. We have a lot of people that start their night here on their best behavior, and when they leave here, they’re not leaving overserved.”
Outdoor consumption at Summer Sound Series … and beyond?
Local bar owners and Mayor Mitchell did agree that continuing limited public consumption at the Summer Sound series is a good idea — and possibly even extending public consumption to other areas.
However, the Licensing Board’s decision on Tuesday will not allow for those extensions this summer.
“Personally, I would be open to it,” Mitchell said in a phone interview before the June 23 meeting. “It’s up to the Licensing Board, ultimately with input from the Police Department, but if it can be done in a fairly controlled way, then I think it would be fine by me. But I think it should be taken up on a case-by-case basis.”
Katz, the owner at Play, said his bar has an outdoor license to serve alcoholic beverages during the Summer Sound series. He said he’s in favor of people purchasing drinks indoors to bring outside to the designated area as long as they’re not bringing outside beverages in.
Lanagan agreed, saying that it’s easier for bars to sell alcohol to patrons in a plastic cup to bring outside than for establishments to set up an outdoor bar and staff. He’s hoping that legislation can be passed to permit public consumption in designated areas beyond this summer.
Mitchell said, “I can imagine the state Legislature coming back and enacting something on a more permanent basis. If that happens, then we can take up the possibility of opening up other sites at that point.”
Mitchell added that he would like to see “some form” of happy hour return if legislation was passed.
Kiva Bank of New Bedford is a student at Yale University who is covering arts, culture and the city as a summer intern for The Light. Email Kiva Bank at kbank@newbedfordlight.org.