The New York City Sheriff’s Department busted an underground nightclub early Saturday morning after receiving complaints that an illegal party was happening.
According to The New York Times, sheriff’s deputies found 393 people packed into a make-shift nightclub, where New York City Sheriff Joseph Fucito said the hundreds of party-goers “were not social distancing” or “wearing proper face coverings.”
The sheriff’s department said the party violated “emergency orders” and was operating without a liquor license. The department also shared photos of dozens of bottles of hard liquor that were confiscated by authorities. (They also showed the approximate location, but later clarified that Pig ‘N’ Whistles, a pub at the center of two of the photos, wasn’t involved after the owner of the pub noted the department seemed to be implicating his business).
11/28/20 @ 0245 HRS: Deputy Sheriffs shut down illegal bottle club @ 202 West 36th St, NY: 393+ people, violation of emergency orders, no liquor license, warehousing liquor, 4 organizers charged with offenses for penal, health, alcohol beverage control laws & arrest warrant. pic.twitter.com/5zXIwuRkrG
— NYC SHERIFF (@NYCSHERIFF) November 28, 2020
Please note location for enforcement last night was not @pignwhistleon36. but commercial space next door @ 202 West 36th St, NY. as indicated in tweet. Owner of business asked if we could indicate it was not his restaurant involved.
— NYC SHERIFF (@NYCSHERIFF) November 28, 2020
“Liquor was present and sold at the location, and the location does not have a liquor license,” Fucito told The New York Times. Four people who hosted the event were reportedly charged for violating emergency orders, in addition to other offenses. Three were subsequently released, but a fourth remained in custody for longer due to an outstanding warrant. He was released later in the day.
Earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced new restrictions for bars, gyms, and restaurants across the state, such as limitations on in-person operating hours.
“If you look at where the cases are coming from, if you do the contact tracing, you’ll see they’re coming from three main areas: establishments where alcohol is served, gyms, and indoor gatherings at private homes,” said Cuomo. “The reason we have been successful in reducing the spread in New York is we have been a step ahead of COVID. You know where it’s going; stop it before it gets there. And you know where it’s going by following the science.”
New York City also recently closed its public schools for in-person learning after running them for about two months, an action Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would take should the 7-day coronavirus positivity rate exceed 3% for the city.
Parents, many of whom were forced to constantly monitor the city’s positivity rate as it crept closer to 3%, have voiced their frustrations with the city.
“The city is not any more safe today than yesterday because schools are closed,” Daniela Jampel, a mother of two in New York City, told The New York Times.
“I consented to the testing, my kid wears a mask all day, I did everything my city asked me to do,” Natalia Zatay, another New York City parent, told the news agency. “Blended learning was the only option given, and now we don’t even have that.”
Related: Report: 13 Dead In Stampede After Peruvian Police Raid Nightclub For Violating Lockdown