Glen Cove Mansion's liquor license suspended

Updated July 13 at 7:05 p.m.

The New York State Liquor Authority has temporarily pulled Glen Cove Mansion's liquor license in response to an incident that occurred on Sunday when three people were shot in the venue's lobby. 

Glen Cove City police said that a security guard and two partygoers were shot and taken to Glen Cove Hospital, but none were seriously injured. Police believed there was one shooter, who had not been apprehended at press time.

“In my 35 years as a police officer I don’t remember anything ever happening at the Mansion like this,” Det. Lt. John Nagle said Monday. “When you have large parties, things happen. The party brought in a bunch of out-of-towners. People were panicking and running around when we got there. It was a very bad situation.”

The party, “Big Fendi Celebrity Pool Party,” — which had been advertised on social media, drew between 150 and 250 people Nagle said.

According to the SLA, when police arrived partygoers were running and pushing to leave the building "while employees attempted to mop up blood from the crime scene … patrons, employees, and promoters were throwing boxes of alcohol in their cars and running off with bottles of liquor.” 

The Mansion's license was suspended at a regularly scheduled meeting of the SLA's board. Effective immediately no alcohol may be consumed or sold there. 

The Glen Cove Mansion held a news conference on Tuesday. Helen Whitehead, assistant director of business development, said 20 security guards were at the event. The shooter, she said, attempted to gain access to the event but was turned away at the door.

“The incident that took place on Sunday shocked us all,” she said. “I’d like to reaffirm that the top priority at our hotel and venue is the safety, health and well-being of our guests and patrons, staff and the entire Glen Cove community. We care about the Glen Cove community, not just because we work here, but also 60 percent of our staff calls this community home.”

Lisa Cohn, a former Chamber of Commerce president, was upset when she heard what happened. “It’s close to home,” she said. “The problem is the stupid gun laws.”

Nagle said there is a proliferation of guns on the streets since laws have changed making it easier to buy a gun.

“We used to break up fist fights,” he said. “Now the fist fights are being replaced by guns.”

Carla Bonrorno, of East Meadow, said she considers Glen Cove her second home. “I always feel safe there. They even have their own police department,” she said. “This is terrible for the Glen Cove community that it had to take place in their city.”

Bonrorno said she doesn’t feel safe anywhere. “(Gun violence) is happening everywhere,” she said. “I share my location with my children always. And I have spoken to my daughters about this. They didn’t believe it, so I had them watch the news with me.”

Matt Nartowicz, the chamber’s president, doesn’t believe the incident will affect local businesses. “I think it’s a single situation during an event,” he said. “I was one hundred percent surprised when I found out that something like this happened at the Mansion. We just had an event there. It’s a quiet, beautiful place. You don’t expect something like that to happen there.”

Mayor Pam Panzenbeck said she’d like to ensure that events like the one hosted at the Mansion do not happen again.

“They rented the Mansion to big promotors from New York City,” she said. “And they were supposed to have a permit. It was declined but they had the party anyway.”

The Mansion’s attorney Michael Finkelstein would not comment regarding the permit. A meeting was scheduled for Wednesday with Panzenbeck, he said.

“We need to set some guidelines going forward,” she said,  confirming that she would be meeting with the Mansion’s owner. “We can’t have these kinds of parties and things going on like this in Glen Cove.” 

The permit wasn’t issued, Panzenbeck said, because a week before there was a very loud July Fourth party at the Mansion.

Cliff Krauter, director of business development for the chamber, said he’s going to discuss what happened at the Mansion with the board at their next meeting. “I don’t know what our role would be at all, but I’ve never heard of anything like this happening in Glen Cove,” he said. “Most places are doing big gatherings. I don’t know if it’ll affect that. I don’t think Glen Cove is a dangerous place.”

The SLA charged the Mansion with 10 violations of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, which includes failure to conform to the application by operating as a nightclub and failure to obtain local permits for an outdoor event with amplified music.

"SLA license holders have an obligation to maintain orderly operations," Vincent Bradley, SLA chairman said. "This business has failed to uphold their obligation as a licensee and the board is taking action to ensure public safety and support local law enforcement."

On Wednesday, when asked if police were getting any closer to arresting the suspect Nagle said he could not speak in detail about an ongoing investigation. But he did say, "I'm happy with the way it's progressing."

Additional reporting by Roksana Amid