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Rooftop Films Screening In Williamsburg Shut Down By Police Last Night Over Liquor License Dispute
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 24, 2011
Modified Jun 24, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 24, 2011
Modified Jun 24, 2011
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Earlier today, we saw a post on Reddit in which someone claimed to have received a summons at the Rooftop Films festival last night in Williamsburg "for drinking in public... even though it was private w/ liquor license." Check out the original post below:
It was on Wythe and S 2nd, the spot kind of looks like a small abandoned parking lot but it's the front yard of an upcoming bar called Crown Vic. The cops strolled in and started taking IDs, including the person who I was sitting with. They wouldn't even let the management get their liquor license papers even though it was just two blocks away (I suppose not having it with them was a mistake on their part, but still).
tl;dr: Fuck the NYPD.
We talked to the NYPD, who told us that they had no specific information about the incident in question, but did get into a semantics argument with us about what constitutes public drinking—they were less than sympathetic about our description of the events at the screening. We talked to Rooftop Films earlier in the day, and at first, they thought the event was shut down because of a noise violation; they later emailed us with more specific info about the incident, confirming that people were indeed given summonses for drinking, despite their liquor license. Below, you can read their statement:
Rooftop Films endeavors to engage local communities by bringing films and music to unique new spaces. Unfortunately, due to a permit misunderstanding, our event at South 2nd Street and Wythe Avenue on June 23, 2011 was stopped by officers from the 94th Police Precinct. We believe the officers were in the wrong to stop the event, but had little recourse at the time.
Rooftop Films events are always legal, safe and permitted. In 15 years of hosting public events, we have never had a show stopped in the middle due to any violations, and are disappointed at the occurrence on June 23, 2011. We are working with the Community Affairs office to ensure that no such incident happens in the future.
If any patrons received summonses at the event, we will be more than happy to provide a copy of the valid liquor permit that covered the event, and Rooftop Films and the owners of the establishment will assist those patrons in dealing the NYPD in any way we possibly can. Please email Lela Scott MacNeil at [email protected].
We apologize to our patrons, and will refund any ticket sales from that night, as well as offer two tickets to an additional Rooftop Films show. Please email [email protected] to retrieve your free tickets.
Tagged
cops
liquor license
nypd
police
Rooftop Films
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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