Forest Hills Restaurant Gets Liquor License Suspended

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A kosher restaurant and event space in Forest Hills got its liquor license suspended this week after getting caught hosting a wedding reception while the neighborhood was under "red zone" restrictions, state officials said.

Deputies with the New York City Sheriff's Office found Da Mikelle Palace hosting about 100 guests dining, drinking and dancing to live music on Sunday, in violation of both the state's limits on indoor gatherings and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's localized lockdowns in coronavirus clusters, according to a news release.

The New York State Liquor Authority suspended Da Mikelle's liquor license Wednesday as a result of the gathering.

The sheriff's deputies discovered the wedding reception Sunday after they spotted several people entering the restaurant Sunday and heard music inside, even though the restaurant's front lights were off and it looked closed from the outside.

They went in and saw several dozen people eating, drinking and dancing without masks and not following social-distancing protocol, Cuomo's office said.

In an annexed space inside the building, called the Troyka Restaurant, the deputies saw another 45 people eating and dancing to live music. Attendees said the event was a wedding reception.

Indoor gatherings are limited to 50 people under state COVID-19 rules but were prohibited at the time in the Central Queens "red zone," which included Forest Hills.

Emergency liquor license suspension orders are in effect indefinitely. After an expedited hearing before an administrative judge, business owners may get their license permanently revoked and be fined up to $10,000 per violation.

This article originally appeared on the Forest Hills Patch