Vineyard 48 will remain shuttered for at least another two weeks.
The State Liquor Authority has postponed a hearing on license revocation charges brought against the vineyard in conjunction with a emergency summary suspension ordered by the SLA board Oct. 5. The hearing before an administrative law judge at the agency was to take place today in Mineola.
“The attorney for Vineyard 48 asked for the adjournment,” SLA spokesperson William Crowley said. The hearing was postponed until Oct. 26 and suspension remains in effect, Crowley said.
Peter Sullivan, attorney for Joseph Paul Winery Inc., which does business as Vineyard 48, today confirmed that he requested the adjournment but declined further comment on the case.
After the emergency summary suspension was ordered, the Cutchogue winery brought an Article 78 action in State Supreme Court in Manhattan seeking a stay of the order, but withdrew the motion for a stay during a court appearance Oct. 6, after the judge directed the SLA to hold a full hearing on the matter by Oct. 11.
The SLA board ordered the emergency summary suspension, which took effect immediately, after it received reports from Southold Town Police of an incident on Sept. 30 involving an “estimated 400 disorderly, heavily intoxicated patrons who were pushing, shoving and screaming at one another,” according to the liquor authority. A fight broke out among 15 to 20 patrons requiring the response of six police officers, the state said. Long bathroom lines, some 30 people deep, led to patrons wandering off the premises to urinate and defecate on the properties of neighboring residents, police reported to the SLA.
According to the revocation charges filed by the SLA Oct. 5, the premises have become “the focal point for police attention due to noise, disturbance and disorder.”
There has “existed a sustained and continuing pattern of noise, disturbance, misconduct or disorder on or about the licensed premises, related to the operation of the premises or the conduct of its patrons, which adversely effects the health welfare or safety of the inhabitants of the area in which the licensed premises are located,” the charges state.
