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Here's an article from almost 3 years ago - I'm not sure what may have happened but for some reason this has not gone into effect:
KOAT 7-Downtown Albuquerque Bars Stay Open Later (http://www.koat.com/news/20124201/detail.html - broken link)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Downtown Albuquerque bars can now stay open an extra hour and a half.
"I believe people will stay. I really do," said Byron Powdrell.
Powdrell and his business partner will soon take over what was Ned's in downtown Albuquerque.
He said he's happy to hear his future bar and restaurant can now stay open until 3:30 a.m.
"We can give you food and get you down to earth and leave happy instead of leaving drunk," Powdrell said.
At a meeting Monday, Mayor Martin Chavez told a group of downtown bar and club owners of the change.
They can stay open later, but after 2 a.m. the booze must go away and only nonalcoholic drinks and food can be served.
The police chief said he is behind the idea. He said it will only help the men and women who patrol on the weekends.
"One of the things we want to avoid is everybody being pushed out the door basically at 2 o'clock in the morning and having a large number of people in the street at one time," said Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz.
Shultz said this will give patrons more time to sober up or to hail a cab.
"So instead of everybody competing for a cab in a small amount of time, more people will have the opportunity to get home safely," Shultz said.
Powdrell said he will be allowed to make more money by selling food to hungry night owls.
The city will also make some cash off those sales through gross receipts tax.
Powdrell said he won't have to worry as much about being liable for a customer's drunken driving accident.
"Be sober when they leave and that's the big goal," Powdrell said.
Albuquerque Police Department said it won't have to add any extra staff; officers already saturate the area until 7 a.m.
The city said if it's successful they'll expand it to the rest of the city.
Staffers at Nob Hill Bar and Grill in Nob Hill and a bar in the Northeast Heights said they both felt it was unfair and that everyone should be able to benefit not just downtown.
I was really excited when I stumbled upon this article, but to this day at 1:30 the lights are turned on and everyone is shooed away to their cars or taxis.
Nobody wants to stick around a bar if they're not serving alcohol.
Really?
Some people who work at restaurants or gas stations don't get out of work until late, but by the time they can meet up with their friends, it's not even worth it.
Some people who work at restaurants or gas stations don't get out of work until late, but by the time they can meet up with their friends, it's not even worth it.
Really. My daughter is a bartender and many of her friends are bartenders or servers. People go to a bar to....drink. If there's no alcohol served, people will leave.
Really. My daughter is a bartender and many of her friends are bartenders or servers. People go to a bar to....drink. If there's no alcohol served, people will leave.
If they leave by choice that's fine, but I've seen countless cases where people are having a good time, visiting, drinking, dancing (and not everybody at the bar is drinking) and then suddenly the lights go on and everybody is kicked out.
I remember a few times downtown on the weekends at 1:30-2:00 the streets would fill up with bar-goers and then the police would come on their horses and herd the crowds out to the parking lots. This drunken conglomerate ends up either a) going to friends' houses so they can keep hanging out or b) go to a fast-food drive-thru because those are the only places open late enough. Or sometimes Ihop/Denny's/Village Inn.
Most bars in Albuquerque give 'last-call' when orders slow down. Often this is well before the mandated closing time. Albuquerqueans, in general, are not late-night partiers.
Most bars in Albuquerque give 'last-call' when orders slow down. Often this is well before the mandated closing time. Albuquerqueans, in general, are not late-night partiers.
Maybe the bars in the heights, so that people can drive home before the police on are high alert.
In downtown, the bars do their last call like clockwork at 1:20-1:30 to make sure all tabs are closed and everybody is cleared out by 2:00.
Based on the article, it seems that it wasn't only the bar owners who were excited about the later opening but also the police. Does anybody know what happened to this??
Based on the article, it seems that it wasn't only the bar owners who were excited about the later opening but also the police. Does anybody know what happened to this??
The article you referred to was dated July 20, 2009. Fast forward to current reality:
City cracking down on downtown bars
Brawls, stabbings, shooting; in last five weeks
Published : Tuesday, 07 Feb 2012, 9:02 AM MST
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque’s Downtown nightlife has become nightmare for many, especially for APD, who spend hours ever weekend trying to corral the rowdy crowds. The city is getting tired of the problems downtown and are starting to put their foot down. In the past five weeks there have been brawls, a shooting, two stabbings and now video posted Sunday on YouTube shows a cop going toe-to-toe with a bar patron, resisting the officer. That's nothing new; APD has had a heavy police presence on the closed downtown streets for years.
Why are they having to "corral" people in the first place?
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Or sometimes Ihop/Denny's/Village Inn.
