Sorry, But You Won't Be Able to Buy Your Night Train Downtown Anymore

By Robert Wilonsky Wed., Apr. 28 2010 at 5:15 PM

Categories: News

Pin It

Flickr user: philosophygeek

Just saw this posted on Downtown Dallas's blog:

Downtown Dallas Inc. has completed negotiations with four Downtown liquor and convenience stores to prohibit the sale of "high alcohol content beer and wine" to the homeless. Alcohol related crime was reduced 27% in the City Center in the first quarter 2010. We anticipate a reduction in alcohol related crimes in the DART West End Station area in the second quarter. The Safety Patrol conducts weekly inspections at four Liquor Stores to ensure they are in compliance with the agreement.

I tried to reach Martin Cramer, director of public safety for the DSpotters and author of today's update, to get some more info. Like, what if you just look homeless? Half our staff is screwed -- screwed! If I were a smart man, I'd open a joint downtown that would allow you to rent formal wear by the minute.

Oh, but wait. I just talked to Downtown Dallas president John Crawford, who clarifies: It's not that liquor-store owners can't sell the booze to the homeless. "They've agreed not to sell it to anybody," says Crawford.

He provides a sampling of some the labels, most of which you'll find listed here: Schlitz Bull Ice, Busch Ice, Colt .45, Hurricane Ice, Keystone Ice, MD 20/20, Night Train Express, Thunderbird, Gino's Premium Blend and Richard's Wild Irish Rose. You know -- the good stuff.

Crawford says, his group has been working with liquor store owners -- specifically, the Cost One Food Mart and Tommy's Market downtown and two others in the West End -- to rid the stores of big-n-cheap bottles of high-alcohol-content beer and wine.

"We asked them to cooperate in what we're trying to do -- which is get downtown cleaned up, plainly stated," Crawford says. "And that means not stocking and selling certain types of alcohol -- and certain sizes, meaning bigger than 32 ounces -- to anybody. Now, granted, our research indicates the homeless have a tendency to purchase a lot of the alcohol we asked for cooperation with because it's cheap ... well, let's say inexpensive. We don't think that's adding much to downtown, to offer that type and size of product."

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Write Comment

Email to Friend

Print Article

Related Content

Blue Mad Dog ("so blingin' over ice!") is actually not horrible when it's almost to the point of frozen and you're stuck in the middle of Alabama.
Oh man I'm getting old!! Since when did Mad Dog 20/20 ever come in any color beside RED and PURPLE. Is Day-glo blue and Yellow a natural color for wine?? Let the Projectile vomiting begin!!
In the immortal words of Joliet Jake Blues: "That Night Train's a mean wine."
Wonderful, now your panhandlers will have to pester more folk in order to purchase more bottles of the non fortified elixers.
I, for one, will miss the drunken bum whos breath reeks of both low-grade cigarettes and cisco peach coming up to me in at the DART platforms downtown,west end or AAC, asking for change to procure "somethin' to eat". Bum wine is a prime reason we have so many of these problems downtown, that and a huge homeless shelter that every other city in the region decided to bus their homeless to as well. Now, if we could only demolish The Bridge and Stewpot...
See picture - Mad Dog is orange now?
What's the word? THUNDERBIRD!! What's the price? 98 twice!
For several years, Night Train was my Absinthe. Having grown up drinking Manischevitz and square bottle Mogen David, Night Train was not a stretch. Does this also mean that if I look homeless I can't buy a bottle of Fonseca? Lord knows I can't buy it in Plano.
James Brown's "Night Train" is as intoxicating as any malt liquor.
I will never forget my 2001 report in RHET 1302: "The Rhetoric of Food" at UT on which cheap alcohol (both wine & beer) gives the most buzz for your buck. At 8am. Tie at 3 gallon Julio Gallo, Red in a box, Night Train, Shlitz, & Colt 45. Greatest class and report EVER.
Sirs: there's more to life than alcohol content. Night Train is <b>the shit</b>. One bender will make you a believer.
So I guess the only people entitled to be drunk jackasses downtown are suits with 9-5's who can afford cocktails at some douchey bar or club. This will probably mean that bums will drink more beverages with lower alcohol content (it's what any sensible person would do). I predict an increase in public urination.
When does this go into effect? Are these "Downtown Dallas" guys part of the gestapo or what? What am I going to do for lunch now?
James Mason (a star) for Thunderbird: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xY7mBQrzXU "An unusual flavor all its own," indeed.
It's still cool for people to buy $14 Red Bull and vodkas on McKinney Ave, act like jackasses and vandalize property, right? At least the homeless are trying to accomplish some sort of ends with their booze related crimes, not just be wantonly destructive for the hell of it.
Oh, my dear Religion of Bacon, you have started a class war by citing a college cafeteria cook's "back-of-the-store" opinion. Night Train is the choice of stars; Thunderbird comes with a learner's permit. It is the difference between a tricycle and the space shuttle. Thunderbird has its place in the universe, but Night Train has its place in Heaven. When you ride the Night Train, you are a man -- or a woman who is really mad at herself.
So no more guys in their late teens out having a good time on a friday night will get to know the joys of buying Thunderbird because they didn't have enough for a 12 pack? That just ain't right. I actually don't remember Night Train being available at the stores i frequented back then, just Thunderbird and MD 20/20. And i looked because of the GnR song of course.
DAMN IT...where am I gonna git my Schlitz now???? Guess I have to buy the next cheapest drink in the case now (7-Eleven Game Day beer?)
Well damn. Leppert had nearly convinced bumwine.com to relocate to downtown Dallas, but now how are they supposed to conduct their market research? On a more practical note, what are we going to do when Billy D Williams comes to town and wants his Colt 45? It works every time...
RoB, I believe you're referring to the track by the great Dallas band the Nightcaps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TkKnhbq6QY
That was an inspired paen to Night Train, but it's only 17% alcohol, whereas Thunderbird is 18%. As Harry, the red-eyed cook in our college cafeteria used to say, "Thunderbird is the word, my man. Thunderbird is the word."
I feel I must step up and defend Night Train Express, a fine, accessible wine. It has just enough spirit to lift the ambitions of a laid-off journalist and just enough of a free-wheeling nature to set loose the creative juices of an actor in community theater productions. It was, indeed, the Official Wine of a suburban theater with which I was once affiliated. What I am saying is that more than derelicts have known the joy of unscrewing the lid on a cold bottle with the locomotive on the label and getting a hint of the emotional aroma before taking that first deep, sweet draw off the clean non-plastic container. This is not a "safety bottle" beer for frat boys, it is a wine for the divinely gifted arts and letters types who, perhaps, have been left to embarassment by corporate decisions by people who can drink the good stuff and surely must have been doing so for many years. And when the Night Train bottle has been emptied, you don't hate anybody -- you love the world. Night Train Express is the right ride. Once again the City of Dallas punishes everyone instead of just the guilty.