NEW YORK (AP) – The co-owner of a New York City bar that provided indoor service in defiance of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic was arrested after an operation in which plainclothes officers entered and asked for food and drinks, police said.
Several people rallied Tuesday when agents arrested Danny Presti, the co-owner of Mac’s Public House on Staten Island.
The bar is in an orange zone – intermediate risk – so designated by Governor Andrew Cuomo due to rising rates of COVID-19, and it wasn’t supposed to serve customers inside. But the owners declared the bar to be a “self-contained zone,” coinciding with protesters who claimed control of a Seattle neighborhood in June.
The bar was fined several thousand dollars, as it continued to serve patrons indoors and operate after 10 p.m., in violation of a restaurant service curfew that Cuomo imposed throughout the city.
According to a statement from Sheriff Joseph Fucito, plainclothes officers entered Tuesday and asked for food in exchange for a mandatory “donation” of $ 40. The uniformed agents then entered and after verifying that the business violated the measures, they issued fines for state and municipal violations.
Presti, 34, was uncooperative and was charged with obstruction of public duties in addition to charges stemming from unauthorized food and beverage service, police said.
Lou Gelormino, a lawyer representing the bar, was present during the police operation and was also fined.
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