“The Chocolate Library” vs. library bureaucrats

No Chocolate in the Library

By BAO ONG

Byron Bennett’s East Village storefront is full of chocolates, from Belgium and Ecuador to California and New York, organized by 36 brands and 10 countries in white cubicle shelves. Short of creating his own Dewey Decimal System, Mr. Bennett, 38, said he plans to install a kiosk to help customers navigate his shop: The Chocolate Library.

Although Mr. Bennett’s business opened the week of Thanksgiving, the biggest hurdle so far hasn’t been procuring delicate truffles but registering its name.

“We thought library was the perfect word,” he said.

But it turns out library was one word too much. The State Education Department’s division of library development rejected Mr. Bennett’s application to incorporate his business, claiming it was misleading.

Since 2006, state Business Corporation Law, Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, Partnership Law and Limited Liability Company Law require the education commissioner’s consent for the words library, school, academy, institute and kindergarten, among others to be used in a certificate of incorporation or company name.

“This is ridiculous,” said Mr. Bennett, who was also an owner of Discovery Wines in the East Village. “No one is coming in here confusing us as a library.”

After being called by a reporter about Mr. Bennett’s case on Friday morning, however, Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the education department, said it would reconsider the ruling in the coming weeks. He said the purpose of the law was to avoid confusing the public about the nature of these businesses.

Mr. Bennet learned of the problem in October, when the state sent a letter to his lawyer.

Mr. Bennett is now incorporated as Chocolate 101. Before Mr. Dunn said the state would reconsider, Mr. Bennett said he might distribute a petition to allow him to use his chosen name for the shop.

“It’s an arcane law that doesn’t really affect anybody,” said Mr. Bennett. “I don’t know how they would be hurt by us continuing to use it.”

But at least one businessman more influential than Mr. Bennett has faced his problem. Earlier this year, the state told Donald Trump that he could not call his online school Trump University. The new title? The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative.

At least a handful of businesses in New York include “library” in their names, but they seemed to have avoided the legal runaround. The Hudson Library Bar and the Library Hotel both existed before the law went into effect.

Even before the law was passed, Flavien Desoblin hesitated before using the name Brandy Library for his upscale bar in TriBeCa. His lawyers told him not to worry, and he opened in October 2004.

“It’s very obvious in the title,’’ said Mr. Desoblin. “It basically says alcohol library. No one is wondering if it would bring kids to a bar.”

Patrons of the Brandy Library sit in plush leather seats sipping cocktails and spirits in a dimly lighted room lined with wood paneling and soft jazz notes playing in the background.

Mr. Desoblin said he can relate to Mr. Bennett’s headaches. He recalled chatting to a lawyer about opening a more casual bar called McBourbon, which he figured would be a good bridge between bourbon and Scotch. His lawyer told him to forget about it; the McDonald’s Corporation would fight him for the name.

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