As people fear a second COVID-19 wave, New York is trying to crack down on illegal gatherings.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a party with approximately 400 people was busted in Midtown, Manhattan. The New York City Sheriff tweeted the discovery Saturday at 2:45 in the morning of 393 people found at an “illegal bottle club” located at 202 West 36th Street.
11/28/20 @ 0245 HRS: Deputy Sheriffs shut down illegal bottle club @ 202 West 36th St, NY: 393+ people, violation of emergency orders, no liquor license, warehousing liquor, 4 organizers charged with offenses for penal, health, alcohol beverage control laws & arrest warrant. pic.twitter.com/5zXIwuRkrG
— NYC SHERIFF (@NYCSHERIFF) November 28, 2020
Current COVID-19 restrictions only allow for gatherings up to 10 people and all New York establishments with liquor licenses must close by 10 p.m. This commercial space not only lacked a liquor license but violated city regulations against mass gatherings set in place for the safety of New Yorkers.
The New York City Sheriff shut down the party upon discovery and charged four of the organizers with serious offenses. This bust followed another recent shut down on Thursday for an illegal gathering in Queens of around 80 people.
For the last few weeks, New York City has been remaining at an average infection rate of 3.2%, according to NYC Health, with cases and hospitalizations increasing.
Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted even more alarming data earlier today sharing that in this past week (7-day average) the infection rate is at 4.03%. There have been 1,620 new cases and 96 patients admitted to the hospital.
featured image source: Twitter/ NYC Sheriff