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Today is the deadline for Faiz Aldabashi and his brother Ali to clear loiterers from sidewalks around their south Berkeley shop Easy Liquor at San Pablo Avenue and Haskell Street. If they fail, the brothers say, the state will strip them of their liquor license.  

“It’s bull,” said Faiz. 

But authorities disagree. What happens in front of a liquor store, they say, is the owner's responsibility. If the loitering continues, state officials said Easy Liquor could be the third liquor store in south Berkeley shut down or stripped of its alcohol license this year. 

In January, the city closed Brothers Liquors at 3039 Shattuck Ave., after authorities discovered various criminal activities run from the store. A few months later, J & B Liquors at 3242 Adeline St., lost its alcohol license for selling liquor to minors. 

ABC officials would not comment on the Easy Liquor case, but Ali said he was asked to clean up his store and hire a security guard.  

Ali said he has complied with ABC demands. Last week he ripped out an old cracked floor and installed a new one. He has also reduced store hours, closing at 11 p.m. instead of 2 a.m. Additionally, he has installed four hidden cameras on the inside and outside of his store to deter criminal activity. 

But Ali is skeptical that his changes will be enough to appease ABC inspectors. 

“This place has always been a hangout,” he said.  

During a morning interview with Ali, a tall man in a hooded red sweatshirt paced in front of the store. Ali said he was a drug dealer. 

“You see that guy walking by? Do you think I could do anything?” he said after he waved to the man. “If I say anything, he’s going to get pissed off.” 

Ed Kikumoto, a community organizer with the non-profit Alcohol Policy Network, had no sympathy for Ali’s plight.  

“It goes with the territory,” said Kikumoto, who organized neighbors against Brothers Liquors. “These business owners are in a quandary because they are selling a product that gets people into trouble.” 

Faiz disagreed. “Honest to goodness, if they took away the liquor license, if we stopped selling liquor, they (the loiterers) would not leave the corner,” he said. 

The law is not on the brothers’ side. The California Business and Professions Code states that the ABC can suspend or revoke a liquor license when a store fails “to take reasonable steps to correct objectionable conditions on the licensed premises.” 

“It puts responsibility on you as a business owner… It’s a privilege, not a right (to own a liquor store),” Kikumoto said. 

ABC officials would not comment on the Easy Liquor case, but Ali said he was asked to clean up his store and hire a security guard.  

Ali said he has complied with ABC demands. Last week he ripped out an old cracked floor and installed a new one. He has also reduced store hours, closing at 11 p.m. instead of 2 a.m. Additionally, he has installed four hidden cameras on the inside and outside of his store to deter criminal activity. 

But Ali is skeptical that his changes will be enough to appease ABC inspectors. 

“This place has always been a hangout,” he said.  

During a morning interview with Ali, a tall man in a hooded red sweatshirt paced in front of the store. Ali said he was a drug dealer. 

“You see that guy walking by? Do you think I could do anything?” he said after he waved to the man. “If I say anything, he’s going to get pissed off.” 

Ed Kikumoto, a community organizer with the non-profit Alcohol Policy Network, had no sympathy for Ali’s plight.  

“It goes with the territory,” said Kikumoto, who organized neighbors against Brothers Liquors. “These business owners are in a quandary because they are selling a product that gets people into trouble.” 

Faiz disagreed. “Honest to goodness, if they took away the liquor license, if we stopped selling liquor, they (the loiterers) would not leave the corner,” he said. 

The law is not on the brothers’ side. The California Business and Professions Code states that the ABC can suspend or revoke a liquor license when a store fails “to take reasonable steps to correct objectionable conditions on the licensed premises.” 

“It puts responsibility on you as a business owner… It’s a privilege, not a right (to own a liquor store),” Kikumoto said.