A surge of interest among prospective bidders prompted a rescheduling of last week’s auction of the defunct Dublin Pub in New Hyde Park by Manhattan-based Paramount Realty USA, according to Paramount Realty’s president.
“Some new bidders emerged at end of last week and beginning of this week. They needed time,” said Misha Haghani, president of Paramount Realty.
The auction, which was to be held on June 26, has been rescheduled for July 24 at the East Meadow law office of Richard Gertler, who Haghani said represents Dublin Pub owners Stan Majewski and Scott Blitzer.
Haghani said recent news stories and word of mouth about the auction of the pub had apparently prompted more interest in it.
After having its liquor license revoked in late April, the bar closed and Haghani said the partners decided to sell the property.
“People call, they want more information. We thought it would be fair to give them a couple more weeks,” he said.
Hahani said few bidders have inspected the premises to date.
Auction information prepared by Paramount sets the opening bid for the bar property, which located at 2002 Jericho Turnpike, at $899,000 and indicates an appraised value of $1.4 million as of October 2011.
The state Liquor Authority board revoked the bar’s license on April 23 after suspending the license in late March for allegedly selling alcohol to underage customers on two recent occasions, according to state Liquor Authority spokesman William Crowley.
“They voted for revocation of the license,” Crowley said.
The state Liquor Authority had found the bar in violation of state liquor regulations on several occasions over the past decade.
In the suspension order issued in March, S & S Pub – the company that owned Dublin Pub – was also cited for failing to comply with conditions in a previous order.
Haghani said the state Liquor Authority in April had offered the owners two options – to fight the revocation or surrender the license and make an argument that they did no wrong.
“They voluntarily surrendered their liquor license and they have not attempted to get their license back because they don’t want to spend more money on it. So they’re stepping away,” Haghani said.
Haghani said Majewski and Blitzer had worked at the bar for several years before buying it from one of its four original owners in 2001. The partners had invested more than $1 million in the 6,441-square-foot facility, which had been a bar or a pub since 1936 and was operating as the Dublin Pub since 1968, Haghani said.
Efforts to reach Majewski and Blitzer were unavailing.
In a letter to the state Liquor Authority prior to the March 22 hearing, lawyer Warren Pesetsky, who represented S & S Pub, entered a “no contest” plea to selling alcohol to underage customers and promised that pub employees would check the age of its patrons, buy ID scanners and implement a training program for employees at the pub.
In the March suspension, the state Liquor Authority said Nassau County Police Officers responded to a 911 call on Feb. 22 that a 19-year-old woman was highly intoxicated and passed out on the floor of the bathroom at the Dublin Pub. The woman, who was transported to a hospital and treated for intoxication, later provided the liquor authority a written statement that she and six friends were consuming alcohol at the bar and had done so on at least 10 occasions in the recent past.
She also said that her friend was told by the bar’s bouncer to falsely state that she was intoxicated when she entered the bar, according to liquor authority documents
On March 1, the liquor authority said the Nassau County Police officers observed a visibly intoxicated 18-year-man leaving the pub. Four bartenders were subsequently arrested after the minor said each of them sold him alcohol without asking for identification, according to the liquor authority, which said a Breathalyzer test resulted in a reading of .183. The young man was then transported to a local hospital.
Liquor authority documents showed the bar had been cited for violations dating back to 2003.
In June 2012, liquor authority records show, the bar received a $6,000 fine for selling alcohol to minors on May 16, 2010 and permitting an altercation or an assault to take place on the premises.
Haghani said the owners had good years and bad years in operating the bar, with its business suffering during the current economic downturn. He said the location also had potential as an eatery with the recent opening of the 24-hour UFC Gym nearby. He said it could also be operated as a bar again.
Prior to the auction, prospective bidders may schedule an inspection of the property by contacting Paramount Realty. Haghani said bidders obtain a due diligence package which includes a title report, appraisal, property information and a copy of the purchase agreement. He said they are also required to bring a certified check for $75,000 to the auction.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
