Albany, NY – The New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) summarily suspended the license of Tomatoes of LI Corp, doing business as “Lounge Las Vegas” at 39 Surrey Circle in Shirley today. The suspension was ordered by Chairman Vincent Bradley and Commissioner Greeley Ford at a special meeting of the Full Board on Friday, October 20th. Effective immediately, no alcohol may be sold or consumed on the premises.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), Lounge Las Vegas has become a focal point for police attention and a drain on resources, with thirty-eight calls for police service in connection with the bar over the past 24 months, including ten calls for physical altercations and two calls for alcohol overdoses.
The most recent incident on March 26, 2017 resulted in a patron sustaining a head wound and a fractured skull after being assaulted with a machete at the licensed premises. Police have responded to three additional assaults at Lounge Las Vegas, including an incident on May 22, 2016 where a patron was assaulted by the bar’s security guards. Additionally, police responded to fights outside of the bar on July 9, 2016 and October 2, 2016, with the incident in October involving 10 individuals throwing bottles.
As a result of the numerous allegations of violence and disorder, on October 15, 2017, the SLA, along with the SCPD, Town of Brookhaven Fire and Building Departments and Suffolk County Health Department, conducted a multi-agency inspection at Lounge Las Vegas. The investigation revealed multiple violations of the ABC law, penal law and local fire and building codes. SCPD arrested an unlicensed security guard during the inspection, in addition to arresting two patrons inside the premises for criminal possession of a controlled substance.
At the time of the inspection there were over 304 patrons inside the premises, well over the bar’s maximum occupancy of 200. An SLA investigator observed no kitchen or food preparation area and no food available for sale in the bar, a requirement for all on-premises licensees. The inspection also revealed that the establishment had 22 employees, 15 of which worked off the books, and four security guards, one of which was unlicensed and two others who had not attended the required annual security training. Additionally, there were no books and records available for inspection on the premises, and there was untaxed alcohol mixed in with the liquor inventory.
The Brookhaven Town Fire and Building Departments determined during the inspection that the premises posed an imminent threat to public health and safety and ordered the building closed. The Building Inspector issued various notices of violation for structural problems, an unsafe staircase, trip hazards in public areas and electrical hazards. The Fire Marshal also issued several violations for overcrowding, combustible decorations, illegal bolt locks on two emergency exit doors and not having a Public Assembly Permit. On October 17th, the SLA charged Lounge Las Vegas with 33 violations of the ABC Law.
“Multiple agencies have determined that this establishment poses an imminent threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community,” said Counsel to the Authority Christopher R. Riano. “Any licensee that allows violence and disorder to run rampant in their establishment will immediately be shut down, and I applaud the SPCD and the Town of Brookhaven Fire and Building Departments for halting the operation of this business before anyone else was harmed.”
The State Administrative Procedure Act authorizes a State agency to summarily suspend a license when the agency finds that public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action. When the SLA summarily suspends a license, it also serves a Notice of Pleading alleging one or more disciplinary violations. In invoking a summary suspension, the SLA has deemed the violation to be sufficiently serious upon initial review to warrant an immediate suspension. The SLA’s decision to summarily suspend a license is not a final determination on the merits of the case. The licensee is entitled to an expedited administrative law hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. An order of summary suspension remains in effect until such time as it is modified by the SLA or a reviewing Court.