Urban Outfitters Denied Liquor License By Williamsburg Committee

Williamsburg, N.Y., residents who were hoping to get soused and shop for some flirty sundresses and phrenology busts will have to go somewhere else, as the local community board committee has denied Urban Outfitters' request for a liquor license.

According to DNAinfo, Urban Outfitters employees spent more than an hour mounting an impassioned defense of their application, insisting that alcohol would make the shop "an integral part of the community."

According to director of store development James Smith, Urban Outfitters was looking to create a three-story lifestyle center with a "mellow restaurant," a rooftop area, and a pop-up crafting space in the basement. Top Chef alum Ilan Hall was named as the chef behind the restaurant Urban Outfitters wanted to open. Hall said he was looking to open in Williamsburg because it is "a hot spot for new restaurants" and maintained that a liquor license was essential to surviving as a restaurant.

The board was not buying the part where the alcohol came in.

"I get the kumbaya moment, but why do you have to be blasted to do that?" asked board member Rob Solano. "I go to Ikea and have a sandwich with meatballs, and I don't need a drink. I have no idea where the alcohol fits in."

The committee decision will be followed by an official board vote next week, but DNAinfo notes that boards "nearly always follow their committees' recommendations."