Mistaken, Booze-Dumping Police Raid Forced Coco66 To Close, Says Owner
- Dana Sauchelli / New York Post
If, like me, you’ve been wondering why a bar as consistently packed as Greenpoint staple Coco66 would ever have had to shut down, now you have your answer: last July, NYPD officers busted in, kicked everyone out, and dumped all the booze for no legal reason and with no notice, according to court papers just filed by the owner.
How quaint! How jazz age! How insanely unnecessary and illegal!
In a suit seeking unspecified damages, owner David Kelleran claims that in response to a bounced check for his other business, “68,” police officers busted into Coco66 instead (the two businesses were next door to each other), throwing out all the patrons and, bizarrely, pouring out all the alcohol on the premises. Moreover, this happened before the 10 day grace period Kelleran was legally allowed to repay the bounced check.
“There is no provision in New York’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Law . . . that allows for the wholesale destruction of private property, without notice,’’ Kelleran’s lawyer told the Post.
So why the crazy old-school raid? Supposedly, local cops had it in for the bar, and just a week after leading the raid Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson commented, “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while — we’ve had noise complaints about the place.”
Look, we get why the NYPD would want to get in on the lucrative speakeasy trend, but there’s got to be a better way! Simmer down, guys, and maybe help re-open that bar you destroyed. It was nice!
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.