NAKED CITY: DESPERATE FOR A DRINK!

NAKED CITY: DESPERATE FOR A DRINK!

The well-publicised police raid on a clandestine and allegedly illegal underground bar in Sydney’s York Street last week was yet another chapter in the history of “sly grogging” in this country. The practice is almost iconic and goes right back to the early 1800s when diluted and often adulterated rum was flogged off to those often desperate for an after hours drink.

The selling of alcohol has always been closely guarded by successive NSW governments and even today you can’t buy grog outside of a licensed hotel or liquor shop, unlike America where it is often freely available at your local convenience store. With the current campaign against binge drinking it’s unlikely you will be able to grab a six pack at your corner shop any time soon, however the argument remains that making alcohol more freely available demystifies its consumption.

It’s hard to believe that it was as late as 1979 that Sunday trading for hotels was introduced in this State. Prior to this date drinkers would often go to extraordinary lengths to break the traditional embargo on the Sabbath. A licencing anomaly allowed the International Airport at Mascot to  open its bar on Sunday and the venue was a regular haunt for die-hard boozers, oblivious to the comings and goings of international jetsetters.

In Bondi during the 1970s a well known tourist hotel dispensed alcohol in brown paper bags at a premium price from the reception desk at all hours of the night. It’s hard to believe that the local licensing police were not aware of this enterprise which was a much loved institution in Sydney for many years. These days you might think it would be harder to flagrantly thumb your nose at the law and avoid the scrutiny of both the media and the police, although the discovery of the York Street “social club” might suggest otherwise.

During the early 80s in New York, a phenomenon existed whereby illegal bars and night clubs set up in warehouses and vacant shop fronts, flaunting a local by law whereby closure often  took four to five weeks for the City to achieve. Once they were closed they simply moved to another site and the process was repeated. Eventually the law was changed so they could be closed on the spot and the perpetrators slugged with sizeable fines.

It’s pure fantasy of course but as part of the Lord Mayor’s Manhattanisation of Sydney, what with the small bars, the late night trading and the funky laneways, could we one day see the granting of short term “clandestine” bar licences with trading hours restricted between midnight and 6am. Yes we are talking illegality but more your “wink wink nudge nudge” bending of the law than outright gangster style criminality.

The “clandestine bar licence” could be bought for the price of a busking licence, possibly from a vending machine in the Sydney Town Hall, and you would then have a maximum of three weeks to run your speak-easy before a mock raid by the Police Tactical Sqaud on the final night closed you down. Décor would be minimal as nobody is going to blow an expensive fit out on such a short term operation. Nevertheless a few well placed bean bags, a couple of lava lamps and a bar made from a row of Council wheelie bins would do the job nicely. Those numerous vacant shops in Oxford Street would provide ideal premises with the windows newspapered to create that essential air of mystery.

Most people enjoy a social drink and many would argue that the experience is enhanced if you are bending the law at the same time. Come on, we all like to be a bit naughty now and then. It’s not going to happen of course, but then again that’s what they said about Sunday trading!

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