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Hundreds of revelers desperate for a taste of the normal year of New Year’s Eve were shocked overnight for attending illegal parties in violation of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the New York sheriff said Friday.
While Times Square was a ghost town, parties beat from Queens to Manhattan, including a Maspeth karaoke bash that hosted more than 300 maskless parties, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said.
At 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, delegates responded to the Maspeth Bar Lounge in 58th Street and watched as more than 25 people slipped into an emergency exit that was closed from the outside, Fucito said.
About 15 minutes later, delegates burst in and found that more than 300 people had gathered to “drink alcohol, sing karaoke and dance” without face masks, the sheriff said.
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The owner of the business, Man Phan (37), along with his wife, He Bin Wang (37), are charged with violating an executive order, violating an emergency measure and failing to comply with health and safety to protect. Phan was also charged with running an unlicensed bottle club, illegally storing alcohol and obstructing an exit and a $ 15,000 fine.
Guowei Lin, 44, the shindig’s DJ, is also facing charges and a $ 1,000 fine, along with Fang Zou, a 35-year-old employee, Fucito said.
In Brooklyn, delegates received 311 complaints about a large, loud, non-social gathering at Stars Hall in Sunset Park.
When officers arrived there just before midnight, they found about 80 people dancing their 2020 blues away and smoking water pipes, Fucito said.
The party’s organizer, Al Zabidi, has issued two appearance cards for violating an emergency measure and an executive order, imposing a $ 15,000 fine.
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In Manhattan, sheriff officers found another illegal party in an event space in Prince Street around 1 a.m. Friday, Fucito said.
On the sixth floor, delegates found 145 people “dancing, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes” while not wearing masks or taking social distances, Fucito said.
The party’s organizers were fined $ 1,000. The promoter will have to pay $ 15,000.