Photo by philliefan99
With a new fiscal year upon us, the District will use the upcoming three-day weekend to try out a very important new bit of policy: permitting bars to stay open 24 hours.
The change to D.C. liquor regulations was adopted as part of Mayor Vince Gray’s fiscal 2013 budget in an attempt to bring in an additional $3 million in tax revenue. And while we’ve argued in the past that Washington just isn’t a 24-hour kind of town, our ability to go all night is about to be put to the test.
Under the new policy, bars and restaurants would be granted permission to remain open 24 hours on nights preceding a holiday, like Columbus Day next Monday. Alcohol sales would be cut off at 4 a.m.
Forty-two bars and restaurants qualified as test subjects to stay open this weekend, the Post reports. Establishment that made the cut were required to pass several criteria:
But before bars and restaurants can take advantage of the extended hours, they had to register with the alcohol board and submit details about how they planned to control potential crowds and noise.
Fred P. Moosally, director of ABRA, said his agency received 57 applications for extended hours for the night before Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The places that will go all night on Sunday—and Monday morning—are scattered across the District, with rock clubs, fancy lounges, neighborhood watering holes and even Camelot Show Bar scheduled to remain open through daybreak.
