Bar owner who declared pub an “autonomous zone” kicks out Cuomo’s ‘taxi sheriffs’, declares everything ‘free’

Posted by: James E. Lewis| Lawenforcement Today

We’ve already told you about the courageous and defiant bar owner in Staten Island who has openly defied state and local decrees to close his bar to inside service and swore not to pay fines levied.

Now he’s refusing to allow Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) officers to enter his establishment, instead locking his door and saying he’s closed.

He has also copied the Seattle effort to declare independence.

The city sent “taxi sheriffs” on Sunday to crack down on a Staten Island bar owner, who crowed about defying COVID-19 restrictions, only for the tough-talking proprietor to lock the door and say he was closed.

The owners of Mac’s Public House have told The New York Post they are refusing to heed state and city restrictions. 

The bar is in a “virus danger zone” and should be closed to indoor service based on policies that went into effect Wednesday.  So far, the bar has been slapped with thousands of dollars in fines and a shut-down order from the state Department of Health, not to mention having its liquor license revoked.

Co-owner, Keith McAlarney, publicly challenged the state and local decrees, pointing to the bar’s liquor license hanging on the wall, indicating that the license wasn’t coming down.

The bar opened normally this past Saturday and by Saturday evening, the health department had taped a cease-and-desist notice to the outside window. 

McAlarney told The New York Post that the notices didn’t keep the bar from staying open and that they were “gone” by Sunday at noon and that “someone must have taken them down.”

The bar opened again as normal on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and remained open for the busy Sunday football crowd.

Around 3:20 p.m., two Taxi & Limousine Commission peace officers with radios approached the door and flashed their badges to McAlarney.  The TLC is among several agencies that are enforcing the governor’s and mayor’s closure and restriction policies.

McAlarney told The New York Post:

“I locked the door.

One of the TLC workers asked, ‘Oh, are you closed?’ 

I said, ‘Yes.’

She turned and walked away.”

McAlarney added that his bar had been working for tips to pay for food and drink, as opposed to actually charging bar patrons.

The female TLC agent was also interviewed by The New York Post:

“As we walked up, they locked the door!

I asked, ‘Are you guys open?’ They said yes. I said, ‘OK.’ I’m not going to fight with anyone. I just took a picture of the front of the building, and I’ll include it with my report.”

State Liquor Authority spokesman Bill Crowley stated:

“In order to protect New Yorkers’ health and safety during this public health emergency, the SLA suspended Mac’s Public House’s liquor license and the Department of Health issued a Section 16 Order after investigators found the premises flagrantly violating COVID-related regulations in the Staten Island Orange Zone.

These rules are designed to protect New Yorkers during a dangerous increase in COVID cases, and ignoring them just a week after we had to open a surge hospital on Staten Island not only demonstrates an utter disregard for New Yorkers’ health, but is clearly illegal.

The State is working with the NYPD and NYC Sheriff’s office to monitor compliance.”

The bar has declared itself an “autonomous zone,” taking a page from anti-cop radicals in Seattle, Wash. who took over a section of that city in June protesting George Floyd’s death and declaring they were free from authoritarian rule.

Mac’s Public House has taken its crusade to social media, where it has openly flaunted its defiance of the government.

McAlarney said the bar has received an outpouring of support, with “104 [phone] calls yesterday, 70 so far today, [from] all over the country, Ireland, all telling us to keep strong.’’  People have stopped by in droves to take selfies in front of the bar.

On Sunday, a person called about bringing in a party of nine. 

McAlarney responded:

“More than welcome!  A party of nine, you’ll have to push two tables together. You know how this works. … Because we lost the license, and the shutdown, we’re not charging. Everything is free.

If you feel like making a donation, that’ll be great, but food and drink are free. Enjoy yourself!”

A 61-year-old local, Bill, praised the bar’s efforts:

“Look at all these empty places, shut down. These guys sink their life savings into these places, and they’re all going out of business!  Follow their rules, and you’ll starve this winter. De Blasio and Cuomo will be fine. You’ll starve!”

Report: Nearly one-third of small businesses in NY & NJ closed in 2020 amid virus restrictions. It’s far from over.

Posted by: Jenna Curren

The New York Post reported that in New York, 27.8 percent of small businesses have not reopened their doors and as of November 16, New Jersey has lost 31.2 percent of its small businesses.

Eileen Kean, New Jersey’s state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses said in a statement:

“It’s really bad and without federal dollars coming into New Jersey, the Main Street stores and other establishments are not gonna make it through the winter.” READ MORE AT LAWENFORCEMENT TODAY