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While Times Square was a ghost town, parties were thumping from Queens to Manhattan, including a Maspeth karaoke bash that hosted over 300 maskless partiers, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said.
At 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day, deputies responded to the Maspeth Bar Lounge on 58th Street and watched as more than 25 people slipped into a side emergency exit that was locked from the outside, Fucito said.
About 15 minutes later, deputies burst in and found more than 300 people crowded together consuming alcohol, singing karaoke and dancing without face coverings, the sheriff said.
By Lauren Del Valle and Anna Sturla
Updated 1:58 PM ET, Sat January 2, 2021
The New York City Sheriff s Office busted a New Year s Eve party at an illegal club in SoHo. It appeared no partygoers were charged. (CNN)The New York City Sheriff s office raided three large gatherings during New Year s Eve and the early hours of New Year s Day, Sheriff Joseph Fucito told CNN.
One celebration in Queens had in excess of 300 patrons, who were consuming alcohol, singing karaoke, and dancing. Congregants went unmasked, according to the sheriff.
The party, held at a lounge, allegedly operated like a speakeasy, with an emergency exit that required an employee to open it from the inside, according to the sheriff s office.
January 1, 2021 GMT
NEW YORK (AP) The New York City Sheriff’s Department shut down a series of illegal New Year’s Eve parties for violating coronavirus restrictions, operating without a liquor license and other infractions, authorities announced Friday.
More than 300 people gathered Thursday night for karaoke and dancing at an illegal bottle club on 58th Street in Queens, the department said on Twitter.
Five people were charged with offenses including violating emergency orders that ban indoor gatherings, providing alcohol without a liquor license and obstructed egress.
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Deputies also raided an illegal gathering on Prince Street in Soho, where more than 145 people were partying in a space with no liquor license, the department said. Four people were charged with multiple offenses.
NYC Deputy Sheriffs Break Up Illicit New Year s Eve Bashes In Brooklyn, Queens, & Manhattan
arrow A crowd of partygoers inside an apartment in Manhattan on January 1st, 2021. NYC Sheriff s Office
Even as the pandemic rages in New York City, barring mass gatherings, it did not stop at least three underground New Year s Eve parties from taking place in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, according to the NYC Sheriff s Office.
In Queens, more than 300 revelers were found attending an illicit party at a lounge Friday morning, according to the Sheriff s Office. Four people have now been issued summonses for organizing the illicit party.