61.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Mini-mart charged with serving alcohol to minor
State Liquor Authority hits Island Park business with violation, may revoke license
The New York State Liquor Authority may pull the plug on an Island Park business’s liquor license, after the establishment was recently slapped with a violation for serving alcohol to a minor.
T Maxx Inc., at 4305 Austin Blvd., a gas station and mini-mart that had operated under the name Liberty Mart, was issued the violation in October, after the SLA determined that an employee had served alcohol to a person or persons under age 21. The business, SLA spokesman Mike Smith said, had until Jan. 4 to enter a not-guilty plea but failed to respond. As a result, the SLA has initiated proceedings to cancel or revoke the business’s license at its meeting on Feb. 1.
A revocation would not only mean that the mini-mart could no longer serve liquor, Smith said, but also that it could not apply for another license for two years.
“A licensee has a certain window of time to submit a plea to the liquor authority,” Smith explained. “They did not respond to the SLA in a timely fashion. The case will now be forwarded to members of the authority, who will review the matter and impose a penalty, which could include the cancellation or revocation of the license.”
Smith added, “It’s one of the most serious charge the SLA can levy. We strongly encourage the business owner to surrender their license. They’re able to sell beer at this point, they’re allowed to be open, but they are facing disciplinary action.”
The violation comes on the heels of a recent change in SLA policy as part of a more aggressive effort to address alcohol sales to minors. Last year the authority changed its compliance check policies, and now allows underage agents to verbally identify themselves as being over 21 when they attempt to purchase alcohol. In this case, Smith said, the SLA worked with the Nassau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct, which used an underage agent to purchase beer at the mini-mart.
“The police are our partners in law enforcement,” Smith said, “and their referral led to a disciplinary action taken against this licensee.”
An employee said that Liberty Mart, which is now Petro Convenience Store, has been under new management for about a week. On Monday, the establishment was no longer selling beer. A manager did not return a call for comment.
