Stinger’s closes after 29 years

Stinger’s Irish Pub, a popular Rockville Centre bar for 29 years, has closed amid charges of underage drinking and other violations at the establishment.

Longtime Rockville Centre owner Dave Baker, who opened the Sunrise Highway pub in 1987, said he decided to voluntarily relinquish his liquor license after receiving 14 violations in the last four months from Rockville Centre police for serving alcohol to minors and other “business violations.”

A sign left on the bar’s front door read, “Sorry! After 29 years, we have been forced to close Stinger’s. Thank you for your business and & all the memories…”

“I surrendered my liquor license because I was worried about the future,” Baker said. “I just felt the pressure from the business that we were in. It’s a lot harder now than it used to be.”

According to the State Liquor Authority, Baker faced seven charges ranging from giving and/or selling alcohol to minors, not purchasing alcoholic beverages from a wholesaler, inadequate supervision, bookkeeping violations and employing unlicensed security guards.

SLA spokesman Bill Crowley said that Baker’s attorney, Pat DeLuca, made a conditional no-contest offer to cancel the license and a $1,000 bond.  A meeting will come before the SLA board on Dec. 22.

According to Rockville Centre police records, Stinger’s bartender Michael Curran was arrested and charged with selling alcoholic beverages to a minor while working on Nov. 19. The SLA report said that an 18-year-old female was found to be highly intoxicated and throwing up at the location. Her sister, also 18, told authorities that they had been drinking at the bar and identified Curran as the server. A further investigation revealed that three other underage patrons were permitted to enter the bar that night.

There was also a “large altercation” at Stinger’s on July 1 that resulted in a 19-year-old being hospitalized and an assault on an 18-year-old on Aug. 5, according to the SLA report.

Baker said he required all of his patrons to submit two forms of identification and that he hired a security company to check all IDs.

Baker was among two dozen local bar and restaurant owners who attended a town hall discussion on liquor license regulations and ways to combat underage drinking that was hosted by the Rockville Centre Police Department on Nov. 16.

“I’m up front with the bar owners,” said Village Police Commissioner Charles Gennario. “I had spoken to [Baker] in the summer. I’m not kidding that I’m not going to tolerate it. I’ve gotten multiple complaints. I don’t like to see it happen. I’d rather them comply with what I’m asking.”

Gennario said that assault cases have increased in the business district in recent months, and many of them were a result of alcohol.

“It’s not fair to the residents,” Gennario said. “I’m not going to tolerate it. I’m going to make it worse for them. I’m going to enforce the SLA laws as much as I can. It’s a drain on my resources.”

Baker is a 27-year resident of Rockville Centre and raised a family in the village.

“I have a bad taste in my mouth with this whole thing,” he said. “I don’t want to be in Rockville Centre again — that’s for sure.”