Boozy brunch early birds, rejoice! While the meddlesome masterminds behind Community Board 1 have been trying to squash Sunday morning brunches by enforcing a ban on restaurants in Greenpoint and Williamsburg serving outdoors before noon, City Councilman Steve Levin (D-Greenpoint) has stepped in to stop them in their Bloodys-and-bagels-hating tracks.
This week, Levin submitted legislation to the City Council calling for a change in the three-decade old city law which CB1 has been referencing for their brunch crackdown. The law prohibits restaurants from serving on the sidewalk on Sunday mornings (state laws permit brunching as early as 8 a.m.) If Levin's bill—which is still in "the very early stages," as he told Brooklyn Paper— passes, North Brooklyn restaurants like Lokal and Five Leaves, which were recently issued summonses for their morning outdoor brunches, can overcharge for eggs bright and early on Sundays.
The Battle for Brunch has seemingly raged through North Brooklyn since CB1's crackdown last month, pitting political bigwigs like Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz against adamant community board members. "Having brunch on the sidewalks of Brooklyn is, in many ways, an extension of sitting on our stoops—a community experience that allows us to people watch, get to know our neighbors, and enjoy the weather and fresh air," Markowitz told the Brooklyn Paper last week. Though while we agree there's nothing better than spending the summer sipping mimosas at an outdoor cafe, we still haven't met anyone ambitious enough to make it out of bed before noon on Sunday. And certainly not in Williamsburg!
