Wantagh Sports Bar Owner Speaks Out After Losing Liquor License

WANTAGH, NY — Mike Peranio takes the coronavirus seriously. His 84-year-old mother died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, at a Roslyn nursing home in April. His brother nearly died from the disease, too.

So Peranio was shocked when Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office announced in late September that Vintage Sports Bar and Lounge, which he bought in the summer of 2018, was among 16 establishments in New York where liquor licenses were suspended due to coronavirus violations.

Now, Peranio wants to set the record straight. Nassau County police issued three violations Sept. 26, but he felt suspending the license was extreme. He doesn't feel like he's one of the "bad actors" that Vincent Bradley, chair of the New York State Liquor Authority, described Sept. 29 when he said the state's task force had to "stop the small number of businesses who [felt] they are above the law from putting the public's health and safety at risk."

Aside from a couple instances, Peranio feels he's done his part to keep his patrons safe. When state officials announced new rules and regulations over the summer on how bars and restaurants could reopen safely, Peranio had two security guards monitor capacity and turn people away before the establishment became overcrowded. He also keeps a thermometer at the door to take guests' temperatures, separates tables by 6 feet, hangs signs encouraging people to wear masks and socially distance from each other, and hands out masks to those who need them. Darts are banned, and patrons must order food with alcohol.

To boot, he said he's received no reports of anyone contracting the virus from his establishment.

"I don't take it lightly," he said. "It's affected my life. I was closed for three months from March until the end of June. I reopened in July. I've suffered already business-wise."

As Patch previously reported, the bar's alcohol license was suspended after authorities said the premises were overcrowded Saturday, Sept. 26. At the time, Nassau County police inspectors reported that 98 people were on the grounds at once — more than double the maximum capacity allowed of 40 under the state's COVID-19-related regulations. The bar was so tightly packed that social distancing was impossible, authorities said. Many people were also dancing, standing and mingling without masks, they said.

Cuomo said the state's heightened enforcement efforts clearly made a difference and lead to more compliance and fewer violations.

"However, some business owners still believe these health and safety measures are optional, and we will not hesitate to hold those who recklessly put their fellow New Yorkers' health and safety at risk accountable," Cuomo said in a news release. "With the start of flu season upon us, colleges and schools opening, and localized coronavirus clusters in the state, we cannot take any chances - and we must continue to enforce the rules that helped us beat back this deadly virus."

But Peranio, a native of Astoria, Queens, who now lives in Huntington with his wife and three kids, told Patch he felt the suspension and the state's characterization didn't align with the facts. Standing in his now-empty establishment, Peranio gave his version of what happened during the early morning hours of Sept. 26, describing the steps he takes to keep patrons safe and frustration over not only the state's response to the violations, but the police department's handling of the citation.

That night, Peranio estimated there were about 37 people in the bar, just below its required half capacity. Peranio was in the bar shooting pool with a wooden cue and had left his mask on a hanger. At one point, about 50 people arrived in a party bus and gathered outside. While he couldn't say for sure that some didn't find their way into Vintage through a side fire exit, he's certain there's "no way" 98 people got inside the bar that night.

"It's a small bar. People were seated. When the cops came, people got up and got out of there," he said, which may have led to an even larger number of people gathering in the parking lot.

Under state regulations, that capacity includes anyone outside within 100 feet of the bar, which stretches about the entire width of the parking lot leading to Merrick Road. Peranio said he wasn't aware of that rule before that night. The distance from the edge of the parking lot to the door is about that distance, he said.

He was issued three tickets that night. One for congregating and dancing, though Peranio maintains the police sergeant who wrote the ticket failed to mention the reported 98 figure, which Peranio would have vehemently disputed. Instead, the officer only mentioned that he saw a girl dancing.

"You can barely fit 67 people in my bar," he said, noting even that would still be over capacity. "It's not a big bar. I don't know where that count came from."

A second violation cited there were four wooden pool cues on the pool table, which are banned. The third cited the bar because an employee/owner wasn't wearing a mask.

"It just didn't make sense how they cited me," he said. "They gave me the three tickets, but they have this whole laundry list of things. I mean, at least tell me what I did. And we'll be good."

An exasperated Peranio has since closed the establishment and is negotiating with the liquor authority to pay a hefty fine to get his license back. He expects that will happen sometime this week.

But in the meantime, his 15 employees, some of whom are single mothers, are out of work.

Peranio, who previously voted for Cuomo and whose family once supported Cuomo's father, Mario, in his bid for governor, lamented that it's hard enough to run a small business in the coronavirus era. Sales were already down by about half. Enforcing social distancing and mask compliance among inebriated patrons is no small feat, but he said he tries.

"I'm exhausted! There are times when I fall asleep there for an hour or two," he said. "I'm exhausted just from regulating 'Put your mask on,' 'Keep your mask on,' 'Don't dance.'"

Peranio also expressed frustration that bar patrons often arrive in groups of seven or eight via ride-hailing apps such as Uber or Lyft. That makes it challenging to keep the bar at capacity and prevent people from congregating outside as they wait for their rides. That wait can sometimes last a half-hour.

"Now it looks there are all these people out there. I've tried to say, 'Oh, keep your mask on.' It's not easy. Easier said than done," he said.

Peranio sometimes has to resort to issuing an early "last call" just to get some people to leave and allow others to enter.