HOT SPOTS LOSE THEIR BOOZE
License yank at 3 pack-’em-ins after warnings
The state has indefinitely suspended the liquor licenses from three restaurants and bars in Queens — including a problem lounge that has recently drawn crowds of partiers — for violating social-distancing rules, Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday.
“The state is taking action,” Cuomo told reporters of the State Liquor Authority crackdown, adding, “I’m sorry it’s come to this, but it’s a dangerous situation, and I’ve said it many, many times.”
Brik Astoria and M.I.A (Made In Astoria) as well as Maspeth Pizzeria, all in Queens, had their liquor licenses yanked for not following COVID-19 safety protocols.
According to the governor’s office, Brik Astoria — which was hit over the weekend with an order by the city Sheriff’s Office that shut down its outdoor dining program for a week for flouting social-distancing rules — is one of the “worst offenders” on a stretch of Steinway Street where droves of revelers have gathered to late-night drink and party.
The bar had been warned and slapped with SLA violations for allowing crowds to congregate and drink outside on multiple occasions in June — and were again spotted in violation of Cuomo’s orders this past weekend.
M.I.A on 21st Street in Astoria was found to be serving alcohol to dozens of patrons who were standing and drinking — and not dining — past the city’s 11 p.m. curfew for outdoor dining, according to Cuomo’s office, which said the business had been cited and warned for prior violations.
Maspeth Pizza House on 60th Street also had been cited and warned on several occasions for serving alcohol to standing patrons outside its location, the governor’s office said.
SLA investigators on July 10 and on Sunday observed the pizza place continuing serving after the 11 p.m. curfew and spotted numerous customers “standing, dancing and drinking alcoholic beverages in violation of social-distancing rules,” Cuomo’s office said.
Investigators also witnessed servers with no face coverings and patrons smoking from a hookah in violation of the pizzeria’s license.
Additionally, the SLA suspended the liquor license at the Secrets Gentleman’s Club in Deer Park, Long Island, where undercover investigators with the agency and the Suffolk County Police Department discovered employees and patrons inside the premises without face masks, including strippers performing and sharing the same stage pole, as well as giving unlawful lap dances, Cuomo’s office said.
When the owner of the topless club was confronted about the dancing, he claimed it must have started without his knowledge, yet he had already been caught on video buying drinks for undercover agents and “bragging about getting away with violating” Cuomo’s orders, according to the governor’s office.
During a Tuesday conference call with reporters, Cuomo said the SLA has suspended 27 licenses statewide since March 20 for violating coronavirus safety rules and the agency “brought 410 charges against establishments.”
The governor has vowed to crack down, and last week even issued a “three strikes and you’re closed” mandate for establishments in the Big Apple.