Last week we were shocked to learn that the city had filed a lawsuit against beloved Lower East Side dive 169 Bar, accusing the bar of allowing underage drinking.
But you can stop pouring one out for the leopard print pool table: the lawsuit was dropped this morning, according to bar owner Charles Hanson's lawyer, Jesse Danoff.
Hanson sent us the following statement this morning, expressing his relief:
I'd like to thank the customers, friends and fans for their support over the years and of course especially this past week; the texts, emails, tweets, calls and articles in the local internet news outlets made a difference. It's clear your response to the call for our demise was noticed in "City Hall" and certainly helped us resolve the situation. We will continue to work with the police as we have in the past, to do the best we can for our community.
We spoke to Danoff by phone, who explained that he and Hanson successfully negotiated with the city this morning, and agreed to several conditions. Moving forward, 169 Bar will provide alcohol awareness training for all bartenders, maintain surveillance cameras at the bar, and implement electronic ID scanners. Hanson will also pay a "small fine" of "a couple thousand dollars."
According to Danoff, bartender training and surveillance practices are already established. As for electronic scanners, Danoff says that Hanson bought two of them last November, when those pesky underage auxiliary officers got past the bouncers, prompting this whole mess. The scanners were used every day for two weeks, and then only sporadically, when "there was something fishy going on." Danoff says that from now on, "they will be used without fail."
Though pleased with the outcome, Hanson and Danoff still deny allegations that 169 Bar does, or ever did, cater to minors. Earlier this week, we received an e-mail from Danoff outlining his belief that the IDs used by auxiliary underage officers last fall were, in fact, fake:
It has come to my attention that there is a bit of confusion surrounding the current litigation involving my client, Charles Hanson, and his bar/restaurant, 169 Bar. I want to it to be clear that the only allegation being made is that, according to the NYPD, an underage auxiliary police officer working as an agent of the NYPD used an ID to get past the doorman of the bar and allegedly purchase alcoholic beverages on two occasions, November 19th and November 20th.
The suit by the city does not allege any other incidences of underage consumption or purchase of alcohol. After examining a multitude of evidence pertaining to these allegations, it is my firm belief that the ID used by the NYPD auxiliary officer was a fake ID thus making the alleged police operation unlawful. We believe the court proceedings will show without any doubt that 169 Bar has, and will continue to, operate lawfully and with the best interests of the public and community in mind.
When asked how these claims went over in court this morning, Danoff admitted that they didn't get much traction. "I mentioned it to the other side," he said. "But they denied it."
Still, "We admitted no fault. We maintain that there was... some sort of misunderstanding, but settling the case was the best option for the business."
If underage drinkers are caught at 169 Bar again, the city has assured that it will resume pressing charges. Until then, see you at the electronic scanner, y'all.
