Celtic Crossing Tavern's liquor license suspended by state; SLA cites underage drinking, overcrowding

The State Liquor Authority has suspended the license of a Kings Park bar that hosted more than 200 underage patrons last weekend before they were raided by law enforcement, agency officials said.

The liquor license suspension of Celtic Crossing Tavern on Northport Road came Wednesday during a special meeting of the New York State Liquor Authority board.

At around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday, officers from the Suffolk County Police Department's 4th Precinct, along with members of the SLA and the Smithtown Fire Marshal's Office conducted a joint investigation and inspection of the tavern following community complaints alleging underage drinking, loud music and incidents of violence, officials said.

During the inspection, SLA investigators found 223 patrons inside the overcrowded bar, exceeding by more than four times the allowed occupancy of 49, the agency said.

Many of the patrons were underage — their names and dates of birth were checked as the bar was evacuated — and drinking alcohol, the SLA said.

Suffolk police this week estimated there were more than 200 underage patrons inside.

Meanwhile, the SLA said four underage agents were admitted into the bar without ID checks, and the minors purchased a combined eight alcoholic drinks from three bartenders.

"These allegations paint a deeply troubling picture of an establishment that poses a serious risk to public safety," said Lily Fan, chair of the SLA. "When a licensed business allegedly fails to meet their obligations under the law, allowing minors to drink and ignoring basic safety requirements, the Authority will not hesitate to take swift action. This emergency suspension is a necessary step to protect public health and uphold the integrity of the law."

Three bartenders, two age 19 and another 21 — the legal age to pour alcoholic drinks in New York is 18 — were charged with selling alcohol to a person under the age of 21, police said. The bartenders were issued field appearance tickets and will appear in court at a later date.

Investigators also discovered a loaded shotgun in a basement office that was also being used for alcohol storage while the fire marshall issued 10 code violations for a host of safety hazards including blocked exit points, open electrical breaker boxes, exceeding the building’s occupancy and storage of cardboard above gas-fired heating equipment.

In addition, a live DJ was performing in Celtic Crossing; a gambling device was found in the bar and the tavern had no food for sale — all in violation of the terms of its license, officials said.

Melissa MacDougall, owner of Celtic Crossing Tavern, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Earlier this week, MacDougall blamed the underage patrons on the bar's ID scanner and said additional precautions will be put in place to prevent it from happening again.

"Our licensed and insured bouncer will utilize a new ID scanner moving forward," MacDougall wrote on the Kings Park Community Facebook page. "I understand concerns and assure you that extra precautions will be taken to prevent similar incidents."

She added in the Facebook post: "We appreciate all of our regular patrons and have a really fun happy hour and day crowd. I’m doing everything I can to fix our weekend night issues. With the help of this new scanner and the [State Liquor Authority] I feel we are headed in a better direction."

The SLA’s license suspension is not final, the agency said, and MacDougall is allowed a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Records provided by the SLA show Celtic Crossing has been fined three previous times, including for underage drinking, totaling $26,000 in the past six years.

Among the most serious incidents was in 2018 when the SLA hit the bar with 12 citations including for illegal gambling, locked exit doors and failing to maintain adequate business records, and fined the business $20,000, records show.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.