Restaurants & Bars
Crown Heights Bar Continues Serving During Coronavirus: Officials
Atlantic Boat Club got slapped with a liquor license suspension after serving patrons three times during shutdown, authorities said.
CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Crown Heights bar got caught serving patrons three times since a statewide bar shutdown to stop the coronavirus' spread, officials said.
Atlantic Boat Club had its liquor license yanked by state officials under an emergency suspension, the Brooklyn Paper first reported.
“Despite repeated warnings, this licensee continued to operate in flagrant defiance of the Governor’s directive, disregarding the health and safety of their patrons, police and the public,” said State Liquor Authority Chairman Vincent Bradley in a statement. “We all need to continue doing everything we can to slow the spread of the coronavirus and there is no excuse for violating these lifesaving protocols.”
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The bar and restaurant on Atlantic Avenue first fell on authorities' radar in mid-March, when they found 86 patrons in the 10-person barroom, authorities said.
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That was right before Gov. Andrew Cuomo's order shutting down bars except for takeout. Since then, authorities twice found customers drinking at the bar, according to a release.
The biggest reported violation occurred on April 14, when NYPD and New York City Sheriff's Office officers found a line of people outside, the release states.
"After a security guard opened the front door, the inspection team discovered fourteen patrons packed inside the bar consuming drinks," the release states. "At the same time, officers outside the bar were confronted by the large group of hostile patrons outside waiting to get in."
State Liquor Authority officials last week issued a violation to the bar of failure to follow the governor's order. Violations come with a $10,000 fine and potential liquor license revocation.
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