"If I go in and clip the lock, it means I go to jail," the bar owner said.
A New York City bar infamous for its owners repeatedly defying Gov. Andrew Cuomo's COVID-19 restrictions was padlocked by sheriff's deputies after a judge heard evidence that it was serving alcohol without a license -- again.
New York Sheriff's deputies slapped padlocks on the doors of Mac's Public House in Staten Island on Friday after New York State Supreme Court Justice Catherine DiDomenico issued the latest in a series of temporary closure orders.
In a statement on Facebook, Danny Presti, the tavern's general manager and co-owner, said he was resisting the urge to cut the locks off his establishment's doors to resume business.
But Presti said he and business partner Keith McAlarney plan to keep fighting in court.
In early December, several hundred supporters of the bar owners protested outside the watering hole after it was shut down and Presti was arrested.
At the time, authorities alleged that undercover sheriff's deputies were served alcohol there. »