A New York City bar that had its liquor license suspended after defying coronavirus lockdown measures opened its doors on Friday night.
Staten Island’s Mac’s Public House was open for two hours on Friday night despite one of its owners being arrested three days earlier and their liquor license being suspended for refusing to close in response to New York’s coronavirus restrictions, according to the New York Post.
“We tried to sit down and be diplomatic with city and state officials; we had a meeting with the sheriff today,” co-owner Danny Presti told freelance reporter Oliya Scootercaster as customers filed in and out for about two hours before the bar closed down at 10 p.m.
“It did not go well. They’re just showing they’re not willing to work with us,” Presti, who was arrested on Tuesday, continued. “We have to get our livelihoods back. And we’ll see where that goes. We haven’t been able to pay the utilities. Just everything’s piling up. We’re just scraping by.”
The vacate order from the City Department of Buildings was reportedly still on the door Friday night as customers congregated inside in defiance of local shutdown orders.
Earlier this week, the bar owners declared the establishment as an “autonomous zone” in reference to the portion of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that was ceded to Black Lives Matter protesters earlier this year with the blessing of government officials.
About 400 protesters gathered in the street outside the restaurant Wednesday evening to protest the lockdown orders, with many people chanting, “F— Cuomo” and “USA! USA! USA!”
