By:Angela Marshall and Tom Jordan
Submits conditional no contest plea
Just one day before the owners of E.J. Rockwell's were to appear before the State Liquor Authority to answer charges of serving minors last week, they offered a plea.
A spokesperson for the State Liquor Authority said the board received a "conditional no contest" plea from the North Village Avenue food and drink establishment's owner, which means that Louis Matarazzo would voluntarily close the bar and cancel his liquor license. By accepting the offer, the liquor authority would agree to limit the financial penalty for repeated reports of serving underage customers to a $1,000 bond claim.
At press time, the SLA board was scheduled to discuss the offer during a hearing on Wednesday, July 18. The board, if it chooses not to accept Rockwell's no contest plea, may instead make a counter-offer or schedule a new hearing, the liquor authority spokesperson said.
Until a decision is made, Rockwell's will remain closed, and if the offer is accepted, it will not reopen.
The village notified Matarazzo on June 19 of its intention to close Rockwell's doors upon the conclusion of a review by the Rockville Centre Police Department of activity at the bar over the past five years. Rockwell's has received numerous citations for the sale of alcohol to minors and dangerous overcrowding. Village officials have also been concerned with violence associated with the bar's patrons and employees.
According to the police summary, there have been 164 reported incidents at Rockwell's since 1996, resulting in 38 reported injuries, 19 arrests and 18 referrals to the State Liquor Authority. The police made three complaints to the liquor authority each year from 1997 to 2000 regarding the serving of minors. They have filed five such complaints so far this year.
There have also been ten arrests at the bar this year, most of them for assault. Two men employed as bouncers have been arrested in separate incidents since May, the second following a large disturbance on June 3, just two days after four customers, one underage, reported being assaulted after leaving the bar.
Matarazzo initially requested a hearing to appeal the suspension, which was scheduled for the week of July 8, but decided instead to submit his no contest plea.
Village officials were both surprised and relieved at the prospect of ridding Rockville Centre of the "notorious" bar.
"This is a major victory for the Rockville Centre community which had for too long put up with underage drinking at this establishment," said Rockville Centre Mayor Eugene Murray.
Murray had filed eight referrals to the State Liquor Authority about Rockwell's in the past 15 months. On July 6, he contacted the liquor authority again, this time with a letter asking that Rockwell's license be revoked. He wrote that he was "extremely concerned and less than pleased with the slowness" being exhibited in the matter.
According to Village Administrator Anthony Cancellieri, "There is no doubt in my mind that it was Mayor Murray's letter which prompted this action."
Rockwell's attorney Joseph Librie could not be reached for comment.
