While these boards play an advisory role, they also serve as advocates for their local community, and their decisions are often viewed as binding by elected officials and city agencies.  Navigating the Community Board process can be very daunting for a first-timer. Back to your restaurant, let’s say you were looking to open in the St. George area of Staten Island.  First you find a nice location, perhaps on Bay Street or Victory Boulevard.  You’ve, hired a lawyer to help you navigate the permitting and approvals process.  You’re prepared to deal with the Board of Health to get inspected, hoping for a nice crisp “A” to hang in your window for opening night.  Your lawyer will then tell you if you want to sell beer, wine or liquor, you will have to apply to the Community Board, one of their legal purviews is liquor licensing. 

This is where the confusion can set in.  The application process varies by Community Board.  If you were trying to open this restaurant in Manhattan then most Community Boards there have a dedicated licensing committee.  But you’ve chosen an outer borough, so now you will have to contact the District Manager to find out the process.  In the case of the St. George neighborhood, you are dealing with Staten Island Community Board 1.  Their process is to have these licenses first heard by the area committees, of which there are five.  St. George falls in their “West Brighton/St. George” area committee.  Once you apply, you will be told when they hear your application at their monthly meeting.   If you are successful in the committee hearing, then your application will be voted on by the full board. 

Once your application has been put on their meeting calendar, they will contact the residents in the vicinity of your proposed establishment to let them know about the hearing.  This is a time when it is beneficial to be more proactive than reactive.  Reach out to the residents in the neighborhood, if this is done early and with the right message it can make a big difference at the hearing.