Hundreds of partygoers desperate to prove the normality of New Year’s Eve were interrupted overnight to attend illegal parties in violation of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s sheriff said on Friday. New York.
While Times Square was a ghost town, the festivities hit from Queens to Manhattan, including a Maspeth karaoke bash that hosted more than 300 maskless partygoers, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said.
At 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, deputies responded to the Maspeth Bar Lounge on 58th Street and watched as more than 25 people slid toward a side emergency exit that was closed from the outside, Fucito said.
About 15 minutes later, deputies burst in and found more than 300 people crowded “drinking alcohol, singing karaoke and dancing” without face covers, the sheriff said.
The owner of the company, Man Phan, 37, along with his wife, He Bin Wang, 37, were charged with violation of an executive order, violation of an emergency measure and for not health and safety protection. Phan was also charged with running an unlicensed bottle club, illegally storing alcohol and obstructing an exit and will face a $ 15,000 fine.
Guowei Lin, 44, a shindig DJ, also faced charges and a $ 1,000 fine, along with Fang Zou, a 35-year-old employee, Fucito said.
In Brooklyn, MPs received “numerous” 311 complaints about a large, noisy rally without social distancing at Sunset Park’s Stars Hall.
When officers arrived shortly before midnight, they found about 80 people dancing the 2020 blues and smoking hookah, Fucito said.
Party organizer Al Zabidi received two tickets for violating an emergency measure and an executive order and faces a $ 15,000 fine.
In Manhattan, sheriff’s officers found another illegal party around 1 a.m. Friday at a Prince Street loft space, Fucito said.
On the sixth floor, deputies found 145 people “dancing, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes” without wearing masks or distancing themselves socially, Fucito said.
Party organizers received a $ 1,000 fine. The developer will have to pay $ 15,000.