Dept. of Déjà Vu: The Point Breeze Pop-Up Is Closed … Again

On again, off again.

Stop us if you’re heard this one before: The Point Breeze pop-up beer garden was forced to close Thursday evening because of its ongoing battle with Philadelphia’s Licenses & Inspections department.

“We sent customers home. We sent employees home,” said proprietor John Longacre. He said the beer garden will remain closed throughout the weekend.

A quick recap of the brawl between the city government and the Point Breeze pop-up: L&I slapped the establishment with a cease-and-desist order on July 8th due to zoning issues. Charles Murphy, an attorney for Longacre, quickly filed an emergency motion in the city’s Court of Common Pleas, and Judge Nina Wright Padilla vacated L&I’s cease-and-desist order on July 10th. That allowed the beer garden to open up again the next day.

Then the city filed a notice of appeal on Monday, and according to documents filed by Murphy, that put Padilla’s order on hold. Murphy filed an emergency petition on Thursday to try to allow the beer garden to stay open this weekend, but Common Pleas Judge Linda Carpenter denied the pop-up’s request. Padilla is on vacation, according to Longacre.

This, of course, isn’t the end of the Point Breeze pop-up saga. Longacre said he will fight the city in Commonwealth Court and is confident he’ll win. The city’s law department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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