Darby O'Gills Temporarily Re-Opens for Business, Awaiting Court Date
By Hannah Kirk and Alexandria Watts
Despite a recent liquor license suspension following a police raid that identified 115 underage patrons at Darby O’Gills restaurant last week, the party will continue temporarily at the Hyde Park bar as they open up for business as usual Friday night.
According to Ashley Riedinger, the personal assistant to the owner of Darby’s, the bar was granted an “executive stay” by their lawyer. They have been issued an injunction to continue serving liquor and to keep operations open until their court date, which Riedinger did not disclose.
Riedinger did not give a statement regarding the bar’s plan moving forward to prevent underage drinking, citing legal advice. However, Reidinger did ensure they would be “doing their best” to vett fake identification cards. It is not clear whether further steps will be taken to better facilitate this process.
The raid was part of a one year campaign initiated by the State of New York to double down on the use of fake IDs.
Riedinger also stated there were no updates on the three bartenders arrested last Friday.
The Marist Circle obtained a press release from Darby O’Gill’s President Craig Gioia on Thursday, Dec. 7. Darby’s stated,
“Darby O’Gill’s currently cannot serve any alcoholic beverages... We assured ALL of our security guards were trained and licensed by NYS; we implemented a state of the art security system along with high-resolution cameras to take pictures of all IDs, asked for 2 forms of ID, and in many cases refused entries to our establishment...the reason why this fake ID initiative is underway is that the quality of these ID’s are so realistic, local police and government agencies often fail to identify them....We are anxious for the court hearing to clear our good name. We apologize to our family, friends, and customers that we cannot give more details regarding this situation due to our legal counsel’s request not to disclose evidence at this time.”
Gioia also attributed their inability to identify fraudulent IDs to the fact that scanners used by the Department of Motor Vehicles are not made available to the public.
“We have purchased several commercial ID scanners over the years in hopes of identifying fraudulent driver licenses, but fake ID manufacturers move quickly to counteract the technology and produce new IDs that pass the system,” he wrote, adding that possessing a fake ID in New York is illegal, yet making one is not.
Gioia regards their installation of the 24 hour cameras as a means to prevent the law from being broken, arguing that the institution was already working to prevent any illegal actions from occurring on their property.
Gioia says, "We will vigorously defend ourselves in the hearing process with the Liquor Authority...It is not the norm in this country where you are presumed guilty until proven innocent.”
Court proceedings for the underage patrons identified during last week’s raid are currently underway.
Press release issued by Darby O’Gills president, Craig Gioia, Thursday evening.