The state Liquor Authority last week suspended the liquor license of the Dublin Pub in New Hyde Park for allegedly selling alcohol to underage customers on two recent occasions.
A spokesman for the authority said Tuesday that based on the pub’s history of violations it could lose its license permanently.
“They certainly have a lot of prior sales to minors. They could lose their license,” state Liquor Authority spokesman William Crowley said.
At earlier hearing, on March 22, pub license holder Stanley Majewski paid a $15,000 fine for seven violations of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control law in January 2011 that included selling alcohol to minors and intoxicated patrons, Crowley said.
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 and promised pub employees would check the age of its patrons, buy ID scanners and implement a training program for employees at the pub located at 2002 Jericho Turnpike.
Crowley said the three-member liquor authority board was unaware of the most recent violations alleged by the Nassau County Police Department against the pub when the pub paid the fine and agreed to remedy its practices.
“It absolutely is going to bear on the case. They very well could have lost their license for the prior violations,” Crowley said.
“This bar has shown a dangerous disregard for the law and a total lack of concern for public health and safety,” said state Liquor Authority Chairman Dennis Rosen in a statement. “Cracking down on underage sales is a priority and the SLA will not hesitate in taking emergency action against bars that cater to minors.”
Attempts to reach Majewski and Pesetsky for comment were unavailing.
The latest incidents follow a series of violations in the pub over the past several years, according to liquor authority documents.
In late 2007, S & S Pub paid a $6,000 fine and served a 10-day suspension of its liquor license for serving alcohol to a person or persons under 21 in 2003.
On Feb. 22, the state Liquor Authority said Nassau County Police Officers responded to a 911 call 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 reported that Nassau County Police officers observed a visibly intoxicated 18-year-man leaving the Dublin 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.
In the suspension order issued last week, S & S Pub was also cited for failing to comply with conditions set in the March 22 hearing that post-dated the alleged violations prompting the current license suspension.
The state Liquor Authority said it acted under the state Administrative Procedure Act, which authorizes a state agency to summarily suspend a license when the agency finds that public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action. S & S Pub is entitled to an expedited hearing before an administrative law judge with the order of summary suspension in effect until it is modified by the state Liquor Authority or a reviewing court.
Other alleged violations against the pub and resulting penalties according to documents from the state Liquor Authority include:
• A $500 penalty in June 2003 for offering unlimited drinks for a fixed price on October 3, 2002
• A $6,000 penalty in June 2008 for serving alcohol to minors on two dates in December 2006
• A $100 fine in August 2009 for failure to display its liquor license and a warning about consuming alcohol during pregnancy in March 2009
• A $6,000 fine in June 2012 for selling alcohol to minors on May 16, 2010 and permitting an altercation or an assault to take place on the premises.
