Battle to shut down party
Bldg. owner busted in scrap with deputies, 63 face $1G fines
They literally fought for their right to party.
An illegal Queens club located in a basement was busted early Sunday after revelers behind fortified doors tried to keep authorities locked out, the New York City sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff and deputies were met with “immediate violence and resistance” when they tried to shut down the party on Roosevelt Ave. near 67th St. in Woodside around 12:30 a.m., officials said.
Deputies raided the building after watching guests sneak into a side door through construction scaffolding.
Once inside, officers realized the party was going on in the basement, but the partyers wouldn’t stop to open the heavily fortified metal doors, officials said.
The sheriff’s office had to call in the FDNY, which battered down the thick doors, finding more than 75 revelers drinking and smoking hookah, officials said.
An employee for National Grid, called to inspect the basement, discovered dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide in the small room, officials said.
The owner of the club, Marco Chacon, physically tried to restrain sheriff’s deputies from entering the room and was arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and organizing a nonessential mass gathering, officials said.
Chacon faces up to $15,000 in fines and potentially more if pending alcohol-related infractions are brought against him, officials said.
Some 63 partyers also face $1,000 tickets for partying during the COVID pandemic.
The United States saw its deadliest week of COVID yet in January, bringing the nation’s death toll to a staggering 416,000 deaths, more than American’s who died fighting in World War II, according to the CDC.
So far, 26,558 people have died from COVID in the city, according to the CDC.