Bars In Brooklyn Busted For 'Stripper Party,' 400-Person Rave

BROOKLYN, NY — Bars hosting an unlicensed "stripper party" and a 400-person Halloween rave were among the latest Brooklyn establishments to lose their liquor licenses this week for not following pandemic-related rules, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

Four Brooklyn bars — including one in Bushwick, one in East Williamsburg and two in Cypress Hills — were among 23 New York City spots that had their liquor licenses temporarily suspended by the New York State Liquor Authority in the most recent round of inspections by Cuomo's task force on coronavirus restrictions.

"If we let our guard down and ignore basic public health rules, this winter could be one of the darkest periods of this pandemic and we simply cannot let that happen," Cuomo said in a release about the suspensions on Tuesday. "We know the vaccine is on the way, we know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but if we let up now and become undisciplined, it's going to take us even longer to get there."

Perhaps the most egregious of the violations in Brooklyn was at music venue The Monarch on Meadow Street, where New York City sheriffs found hundreds of people partying on Halloween.

The Sheriff's Office went into the venue after noticing about 150 people dressed in costumes hearing into the East Williamsburg building, according to the governor's office.

"At approximately 1 a.m., Sheriff deputies entered the premises and found nearly 400 patrons dancing, standing, and drinking, with no regard for social distancing and few wearing facial coverings," they wrote.

The suspensions also included a club on Atlantic Avenue known as Paper Rain, where police caught on to ads about a "stripper party" held last Tuesday. When cops got to the bar, they found exotic dancers performing lap dances and at least six people ignoring social distancing while standing and drinking without masks, according to the governor's office.

The bar also had a "host of fire and life safety violations" and wasn't allowed to provide adult entertainment under its liquor license, the governor's office said.

Gate Way Beer Garden in Cypress Hills and New York Cafe & Spanish Food Restaurant in Bushwick were also on the list of recent suspensions.

At Gate Way, inspectors who heard music coming from the bar on Nov. 1 walked in through an open basement door after finding locked front doors and garbage bags blocking the windows, the governor's office said.

Inside, they found 14 people without face masks standing and drinking while ignoring social distancing and an employee without a face mask. They also noticed the bar wasn't serving food, which is required when serving alcohol under orders from the governor.

At NY Pizza Cafe, inspectors noticed the restaurant was "attempting to conceal their operations" by locking a front roll-down gate on Nov. 28. When they got inside, they found 20 people drinking without face masks around 10:30 p.m., past the 10 p.m. curfew for restaurants and bars.

The violations were the second time the cafe has had its license suspended for coronavirus-related violations, according to the governor's office. The license was reinstated after the restaurant paid a $10,000 fine in August.

More than 40 Brooklyn spots have had their licenses suspended since Gov. Andrew Cuomo convened a task force of investigators earlier this summer amid videos of late-night, maskless partiers in New York City.

Other violations include nightclub House of Yes, a Bed-Stuy restaurant with a hookah shed in the backyard, a "party boat" in Red Hook and a Sheepshead Bay bar with a 150-person party on the roof.