Board rejects deli's request to stock old-country vodka for the elderly Russian Jews of Brighton

The Boston Licensing Board today rejected a request from Babushka Deli on Washington Street, just up from the Brookline line, to expand its stock of beer and wine to include harder stuff.

At a hearing Wednesday, several nearby residents and the rabbi of a congregation that serves the area's Russian Jews, said that while they were fortunate enough to be able to drive all the way over to Cambridge Street to buy the vodka and other spirits that are central to Russian life, many of the elderly residents of the area had no way to get there.

However, the board listened to Mayor Walsh, Boston Police District D-14 and the Brighton-Allston Improvement Association that Brighton already has enough liquor stores.

Babushka's lawyer, Carolyn Conway, argued there was a public need for another couple of shelves for vodka and spirits because it would serve a niche market. She said the students who also live in the area rarely go into the deli now and that the deli has never been cited for selling beer or wine to people under 21.