Williamsburg's 2nd Starbucks won't serve alcohol, if The West coffee house succeeds with petition

fighting for their right to stop booze at Starbucks

Williamsburg’s second Starbucks location, set to open at 154 N 7th Street, probably won’t be granted its wish to serve beer and wine after all, based on vocal opposition from residents and local business owners at last night’s Community Board 1 SLA Review Committee meeting in Brooklyn.

Esther Bell and Sarah Madges, owner and manager of The West coffee house, which is nearby Williamsburg’s first Starbucks location on Union Avenue, got 500 signatures in the past three days opposing the license. Madges had previously told Newsweek that The West wasn’t intimidated by the Seattle coffee mogul and that “people who want real coffee are going to still come to places like us.”

But the threat of a nearby Starbucks serving not only burnt coffee but bad chardonnay was too much for Bell and Madges.

“It really is more about a precedent that opens up to every single Starbucks,” Bell said. “They have 255 locations in Manhattan right now, and we would be setting the precedent that Starbucks will not only keep opening up in Brooklyn, block by block, but now take a vital revenue stream from small business. As you know, most restaurants can’t survive without alcohol.” [Gothamist]

Starbucks has been selling alcohol in select locations since at least 2012. The first Williamsburg Starbucks location opened near the Lorimer L stop, but this second location is N7 right by the Bedford stop (and the Dunkin’ Donuts).

Speaking of Starbucks, they’re the big sponsor of the upcoming Veterans day mega-concert in DC.