Hundreds of partygoers desperate to taste the normality of New Year’s Eve were arrested overnight for attending illegal parties, violating the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York sheriff said.
While Times Square was a ghost town, parties were banging from Queens to Manhattan, including a Maspeth karaoke bash that hosted more than 300 maskless parties, said Sheriff Joseph Fucito.
At 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, deputies responded to the Maspeth Bar Lounge on 58th Street and saw more than 25 people sneak into a side emergency exit that was blocked from the outside, Fucito said.
About 15 minutes later, lawmakers broke out and found more than 300 people crowded “drinking alcohol, singing karaoke and dancing” without covering their faces, the sheriff said.
The company’s owner, Man Phan, 37, and his wife, He Bin Wang, 37, were charged with violating an executive order, violating an emergency measure and failing to protect their health. and safety. Phan was also charged with running an unlicensed glass club, illegally storing alcohol and obstructing his exit, and will be fined $ 15,000.
Guowei Lin, 44, the shindig’s 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, strong, socially impassioned gathering at Stars Hall in Sunset Park.
When officers arrived just before midnight, they found about 80 people dancing the 2020 blues and smoking hookah, Fucito said.
The party’s organizer, Al Zabidi, received two tickets in attendance 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 in a Prince Street event space, Fucito said.
On the sixth floor, deputies found 145 people “dancing, drinking and smoking cigarettes” while not wearing masks or social distances, Fucito said.
Party organizers received a $ 1,000 fine. The promoter will have to pay $ 15,000.