New device targets underage drinkers
D.A. provides scanners to spot fake N.Y. drivers’ licenses
“We want to weed out the 17-year-olds who are wannabes,” Butch Yamali, owner of Maliblue clam and oyster bar in Lido Beach, said of underage would-be patrons trying to sneak into his eatery by presenting fake I.D.’s. “You have to be aware and know your customers.”
Maliblue is one of the first establishments in Nassau County to start using a new device that can more easily detect a fake driver’s license, a scanner that has been made available since late June to restaurants and bars across Long Island through District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office in an attempt to reduce underage drinking and drunk driving.
“I’m happy to have it — it’s a very big help and they’re giving us the tools to work with,” Yamali said, adding that the device proved effective over the busy July 4 weekend. “We saw a lot of kids trying to come in. That Monday, we caught one that wasn’t a real license, and, of course, they started some verbal abuse, but we told them, ‘when you’re old enough come back.’”
Yamali and others said that unlike devices that are currently on the market and can cost as much as $2,000, the new license scanners — which were donated to the D.A.’s office by Heineken International — are smaller, easier to use, and, at about $20, inexpensive. The device authenticates and detects a symbol embedded in a New York state driver’s license, Yamali said, clearly pointing out whether the license is a fake and making the job of doormen and bartenders a bit easier.
“All of my doormen and bartenders use it,” Yamali said. “It’s an inexpensive little gadget, but it works.”
Rice said in a statement that Brian Rosenberg, the creator of Restaurants Against Drunk Driving (RADD) and the owner of Sugar Dining Den and Social Club in Carle Place, is distributing the license readers to restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk counties. “Bartenders, servers and restaurant managers are on the front lines in the fight against underage drinking, so providing them with these license readers will be an effective deterrent,” Rice said.
