Bar Upstart: Death to Liquor-License ‘McCarthyism!’
Ghosts of Prohibition haunt 25-year-old David Kaplan’s East Village dream
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Tales of Retail
David Kaplan was delighted to open his “dream destination” on East Sixth Street. But never again!
“I’ll never open another bar, another restaurant, a deli, a fucking bodega—I’ll never open up anything ever again in New York,” he said. “It’s awful.”
Typically more of a “no worries” kind of guy, Mr. Kaplan has become rather jaded since first setting out to open a restaurant with an “old-world sort of feel, that sense of permanence,” as he put it, a place that “doesn’t look new” but “looks elegant, classic, comfortable.”
He called it Death & Co.
“Originally, we wanted to name the place Death & Co because of this pre-Prohibition poster that showed man’s decline through the use of alcohol,” explained the 25-year-old from Jackson Hole, Wyo. “It was this old flier given out by the Anti-Saloon League movement.
“If you can see the mural that we had done,” he added, pointing to a painting near the back of the gloomy joint, “that’s a recent interpretation. It’s this, like, rickety devil’s toboggan slide into a pit of death. And then it says, ‘Death & Co, Proprietors.’”
You might be wondering, What the hell was he thinking? How ironically risky to brand a bar in tribute to the temperance movement, especially in the East Village, where the modern heirs apparent to the ancient Anti-Saloon League are alive and fussin’.
“The irony is not lost on me,” said Mr. Kaplan, who, like many licensed operators in the area, has been wrangling with neighbors and regulators an awful lot lately. “The guy upstairs, who is really where most of our problems come from, has said in, like, everything ever posted, ‘They won’t last a year.’ ‘They’re gonna close down within a year.’ It’s like, so much for my sense of permanence.”
It’s been more than a year now since Mr. Kaplan, the venue’s majority owner, and his partner, Ravi DeRossi, first opened for business at 433 East Sixth Street, yet Death & Co. continues to cling to life.
The lounge was closed for one week this past December, and Mr. Kaplan shelled out a $10,000 fine, to settle paperwork errors at the state level; yet, days later, he was told that his liquor license still wouldn’t be renewed.
Death & Co. can continue to operate until mid-April, at which point Mr. Kaplan may need to sue just to stay in business. His lease doesn’t expire for another 10 years.
“I still have faith they will overturn their decision,” he said of state regulators. But, in case they don’t, he added, “I have three lawyers now, just for this.”
Although founded upon Mr. Kaplan’s vision for the interior design and deep passion for expertly prepared cocktails—his personal bookshelf is stocked with more than 70 books on booze, he said—the place is at least partially sustained with mattress money. Mr. Kaplan’s grandfather and great-grandfather used to own a large stake in the Sealy Mattress Company, which the family sold in 1986. The young aspiring tavern owner tapped into a small family trust to help finance the project.
“We got a sick deal,” Mr. Kaplan said of the location, spanning roughly 1,100 square feet on the ground level, with an even bigger basement, the site of a former French Indian restaurant called Raga. (He declined to divulge his monthly rent.)
Prior to opening, Mr. Kaplan and crew spent six months doing renovations, giving the place its “sort of edgy New York feel,” adorned with dark-stained wood panels, antique mirrors, rich suede banquets, black granite tables and a bar topped with white marble.
Enlisting bartenders from some of the city’s most serious drinking establishments, including Pegu and Tailor, the intimate 54-seat venue quickly became a destination for aficionados of all sorts of fancy concoctions, albeit not every single one.
Patrons would be ill-advised to order up a cosmo or so-called apple martini. “There’s never apple in a martini,” Mr. Kaplan pointed out. “You mean an apple cocktail.
“It’s hard not to be snobby,” he explained, “when you spend so much time and energy making these things happen. We juice everything fresh. We have tons of homemade bitters; we have five different types of ice.” (He would note that the place also serves small plates of “finger-friendly” food.)
Nearly the entire time that Death & Co. has been open, however, his license to sell alcohol has been in dispute. The existing permit, approved for the prior restaurant, expired last March, and the State Liquor Authority has refused to renew it, citing a business model “in contradiction with the method of operation and hours of operation originally filed with and approved by this Agency.” Next Page >
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As usual an entire article is made up of out of context quotes and zero factual information. Why are they not renewing the license? Has the establishment ever has any tickets or violations? Why is the SLA involved at all? More importantly when will someone do actual reporting work?
Geez, don't be so ungrateful. The article made me sympathetic towards you and enticed me to come to your bar/restaurant. Articles are not press releases. Haven't you ever heard all press is good press? The situation does sound extremely frustrating but attacking reporters that are getting your story told won't help.
Agree with Dave. Found no reporting in the peice. The issues were never addressed. I too, would like to know the answeres to those posed by Dave.
Agree with Dave. Found no reporting in the piece. The issues were never addressed. I too, would like to know the answeres to those posed by Dave.
Agree with Dave. Found no reporting in the piece. The issues were never addressed. I too, would like to know the answers to those posed by Dave.
I have been to a community board meeting in which Death & Co. where on the chopping block. I have nothing to do with the bar. I am strongly on the side of Death & Co., it is so hard to get a license and then maintain it in this city for the worst reasons. The community board has such control and authority over the businesses of others, without ANY justification, proof, evidence...etc. Simply because they may not like the person applying, they can ruin your buisness. This process we have in place is TERRIBLE and needs to be revised.
As a resident you have your right to quite etc. however, that does not translate to your complete authority over someone elses business.
I apologize both to Chris and to The Observer. I posted that comment in a moment of initial frustration upon seeing that many things I said were taken out of context and none of the positive aspects were highlighted. I appreciate Chris's work but do feel that the mark was missed here. Thank you Chris, sorry to seem ungrateful.
Two weeks ago I was at Death & Co. I've been suggesting it to all my friends and work colleagues, proclaiming it as my new favorite spot. I would do whatever I could to help this little gem out. But, alas, I fear that patronage and word of mouth won't even help. Breaks my heart to hear it. If anything, DK, hang in there. I hope you make it through because your bar and your commitment deserve it.
"[P]aperwork errors" = the lies this creep and his people filled in.
Dear David: Feel free to close up and leave town. Meanwhile, control your sleazy patrons!
Carlo- By "sleazy patrons", do you mean people who sip cocktails, enjoy mellow conversation amongst friends while listening to jazz music. Ahh yes, those "sleazy bums" at Death and Co are the real problem in the East Village. They are way worse than the crowd at La Souk coked out till 5am or the loud frat boys at the sports bars or the vagrants in Tompkins Square Park. Amazing how ignorant and bitter people are. I am a proud Death and Co patron and will continue to be one until their last day. Until now I have never been called sleazy. Thanks for the laugh Carlo. Please feel free to pack up and leave town in search of more "civilized" behavior.
Long live Death + Co!
My God what has NYC turned in to? Every time I visit New York bars I hear the same thing. That the neighbors, the city, the cops are all over them. I'm sorry but it just makes me not want to visit the city. Where the grit? Where's the middle class? Wheres the fun? You LIVE in NY fu@@kin' city NOT Leisure World. And what about the capitalistic spirit of of the city? I mean the "I can make it there" and all that. I own bars in Los Angeles and we have to play by the rule but not the Gestapo! I used to dream of NY now I'd rather go to Mexico City and risk getting kidnapped than traipse around NYC feeling safe!!!! Pathetic.
It's official: New York is over. It's the same hypocrites that complain New York has been dead since the 80s (or 70s, or 60s, etc) that are trying to close one of the quietest and classiest bars in the city (let alone the East Village). What's funny is if they win and they close the place down, they'll all bemoan the Citibank that takes its place as killing the spirit of their neighborhood. Why can't they all just move back to Cleveland and leave us alone?
To Villager, what makes you think we in Ohio want those assholes? You people made your bed with those stupid community (Marxists) boards. Grow some balls and change them or suffer the consequences.
Its a shame, here you have a young guy trying to live the American dream in New York city, where many dreams have been made. But now it looks like New York is not the place to go to make dreams. Its now the city of babies, whinners, and high taxes.
Come to Cleveland or Columbus for a good time without the hassle! You'd be surprised!
To: John in Ohio. My sincerest apologies.
To villager:
I agree that there seems to be a standing stereotype concerning the folks who bitch and complain about a bar/restr. being to loud then bitch and complain about the national chain bank/pharmacy/fast food/coffee establishment that replaces it.
However you stumbled against another stereotype as well: the NYer who blames the city's current loss of "cool" on the mythical midwesterner playing out his/her "Sex in the City" fantasies. When in fact the folks we really mess things up for us are the UES trust fund brats (with a sprinkle of Nassau/Westchester/Fairfield/Bergen county brats thrown in) who move downtown to live out their faux-hemian fantasies.
I am an UES trust fund brat (not proud of it) whose grandparents are from Ohio, and could I, even with my Bar Mitzvah savings afford to live on east 6th st., I would be proud and honored to live next door to Death & Co. which is an establishment I admire and appreciate.
This is a good establishment and they don't deserve the moron nimbys who protest it. I live on 5th st and Death & Co is a good business for my neighborhood.
Perhaps Mr.Kaplan can follow in his families fortune and open up a mattress store instead of a bar in this location?
Dave i visit your beatiful bar tonight and all i can say is don't give up fight with your heart like the place you build with your heart.If you give up and live the city you will do exactli what they whant, they win.believe in you and believe in your customers and you will win.I'm in the same situation as you with a small differences i'm a foreigner but i will fight back and harder as they think because this is america and america and the americans are fighters thats why you are so different as the rest of the world.Keep going for you and your customers.
Trust in your Faith and Faith will show you the way of your life. W.G a greek friend in a the greatest country on this world.
How come no one is pursuing a class-action suit against the Community Boards? They have been overstepping their legal authority for several years now, and their actions have been full of steps that are unethical, an abuse of power, and borderline illegal in many cases.
How satisfying would it be to subpoena all these "representatives of the community" and have them deposed in detail as to their statements at the Community Board meetings and "votes" which have obviously been decided in advance?
There are far more than enough people that are engaged in expensive legal battles with these groups at the moment (e.g. Death and Co., Bouley, Veselka, etc...) who have been well-respected long-standing members of the community. Please, join forces and end this ridiculousness asap, as it is currently discouraging businesses in the midst of a strong economic downturn, something that all of should consider when we observe the state of the city a year from now.
If you found your business upon a fraud - telling the SLA that you are opening a restaurant, although you are in fact opening a bar - then you must know you are taking a huge risk. What was David Kaplan thinking? Didn't he think that maybe his "sick" deal on the rent was because it was NOT a location where a bar would be approved? Kaplan and Co. tried to fool everyone. Did he really think people wouldn't notice that his cocktail lounge wasn't the restaurant he obtained approval for? It isn't the community board, or the neighbors, or the synagogue congregants that are doing in Dave Kaplan and Death and Co. It's the fact that Mr. Kaplan tried to pull a fast one and he didn't get away with it. It was foolish of him to invest so much in something that was premised on fraud. If he had been honest to begin with, his application would have been turned down by the Board, and he wouldn't have wasted his time. He could have found his dream location elsewhere. But he chose to con people instead - he wanted that "sick" deal and the great location - even if the community didn't. Now he ought to take his lumps like a big boy, and move on, instead of whining about it. I'm sure if he opened a legal joint elsewhere, he'd be far better off than continuing to throw more money into this death pit.
The head of the SLA who was buddy-buddy with the community boards just resigned. Hmmmm. I wonder why????? Maybe you should look into THAT!!!
This article makes me super angry. The community boards are there for one thing. To keep loud obnoxious places from operating illegally and disturbing the neighborhood. I actually think if they did there job, we would need them and respect them.
I have been to Death & Co. This place is great. How could anyone complain about a place that serves upscale cocktails and plays quit jazz music and encourages good conversation, while frowning upon excessive drinking and unruly behavior.
You would think community boards would make other establishments agree to be more like Death & Co.
One guy on here said that Death & Co. won its license by pretending to be a restaurant. This maybe true. But what's your definition of a restaurant? Is McDonalds a restaurant? If so then Death & Co. surely is. Im sorry they dont offer meals you prefer but this place serves good quality finger foods. It is not a "typical" restaurant in that you go and have apps and a main course and desert. It is known for its cocktails more than its food.
I must know why this place upsets the neighbors. It is not loud and the customers seem to be classy and polite.
I do know what its like to have a noisy establishment below you. I used to live above a restaurant and hated the sound f people coming and going all night. But the truth is, we are in NYC we share these streets. It will never be totally silent. You will never go to bed with the sounds of crickets and waterfalls. THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN. You must take the lesser of two evils. Liquor Licenses are rare in the east village and if Death & Co. didn't sweep it up, god only knows who would have. There are worse bars out there than Mr. Kaplans. Know matter what you can say about him, rich kid, snob, whatever, he operates a clean business that most owners should take a look at before opening there own. We should be helping him and others like him. The community boards are way out of hand, but then again so are some of the clubs and bars that are run by people who don't care if there customers go out and piss in the streets, yell when there smoking, act like an ass on there walk home. These are the places that need to clean up there act. So I urge you to walk past Death & Co. and let me know if you see any unruly behavior or legitimate reason why this kid should not be allowed to operate his business.