By Neale Gulley<br><a href="mailto:gulleyn@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Neale</a>
It took two weeks for the state Liquor Authority to revoke the liquor permit at North Tonawanda’s Saturday night concert series after police caught vendors there in an underage drinking sting.
Afterward, a spokesman for the Liquor Authority called the incident a “serious offense” of SLA regulations.
Yet six weeks ago, the very same sting netted an arrest at free concerts held in the same venue on Wednesday and Friday nights — and no action has been taken by the SLA.
North Tonawanda Police Capt. William Hall told the Tonawanda News on Thursday that his agency notifies the state of any underage drinking arrests that involve an alcohol permit or license holder.
“We submit a report to the SLA with a copy of the arrest report. For an (Alcoholic Beverage Control) violation, we notify the state every time,” Hall said.
Such was the case leading to the upheaval at the Saturday night shows — which has since led to their losing a primary sponsor and being forced to move the shows to Buffalo and charge for admission.
When asked why no action was taken on the Friday night concert citations, an SLA spokesman said he was unaware any such arrest had been made. He also said if no punishment has been meted out by the state, no information is given on the incident.
“If we haven’t charged anybody with a violation, we don’t release that information,” Bill Crowley, public information officer with the Liquor Authority, said. He added, “They certainly don’t alert me every time there’s an arrest for underage sales. Me not knowing about it is not necessarily the agency not knowing about it.”
Crowley did say that there is a major difference between the permit held by JMD of WNY for the Saturday concerts, and the pre-existing liquor license that the Knights of Columbus uses, in conjunction with a site permit to sell beer on the canal.
“Holding a permit is a much easier process,” Crowley said. “The license is what we’re going to hold accountable. If a place has been in business for 10 years and they serve a minor (once) they’re not likely going to lose their license. They’d probably see a fine.”
The Knights of Columbus has a permanent liquor license for sales inside their hall, adjacent to Gateway Harbor Park, but was required to apply for a second, temporary permit — the same kind granted to promoters for the Saturday night shows — in order to sell beer in the park.
Friday night arrest
Police arrested a 19-year-old City of Tonawanda man July 2 at the city’s Friday night concert series. Police said the man sold beer to an underage individual working for police during the concert.
Two temporary beer tents run by the Knights of Columbus for the past seven years cater to concertgoers at Gateway Harbor Park’s Wednesday and Friday series, which features 18 shows from June 18 to Aug. 27. The twice-weekly series is sponsored by West Herr Ford of Amherst.
Despite that arrest, made nearly a month before those prompting state officials to abruptly seal the taps on the Saturday shows this past weekend, the weekday program saw probably its largest attendance of the summer Wednesday night and vendors say they haven’t heard a peep from the liquor authority about selling alcohol.
Organizers for the weekday shows acknowledged the mistake and said the person cited by police shouldn’t have been selling alcohol at all.
“I don’t know why he was selling,” said Fred Priano, president of the Knights of Columbus Twin City Council. “He’s a runner, he runs stuff back and forth, you know — restocks. He’s not supposed to be selling anything, really.”
Normally, he said vending staff are older members of the knights or their families — adults who are well-versed in checking ID prior to sales. He also said the nature of the weekday event is family oriented, and that people “come down and they eat more than they drink.”
Nevertheless, Priano said there have never been any other arrests while the Knights of Columbus has catered the event, where a portion of the proceeds go to local charities.
For the past four years, he said off-duty police officers in plain clothes have been recruited to ensure alcohol purchased by people over 21 doesn’t make its way into the hands of minors.
The show is characterized by many as a more family-oriented event than the Saturday engagement, but still draws a crowd of up to 6,000 people, Harbor Master Jim Mroz said.
He was talking about Wednesday night’s performance by the Dave Constantino Band and Switch.
Mroz said he and other members of the Gateway Harbor Committee will meet soon to discuss what happened and try to come up with a solution. The committee meets once a month throughout the year regarding the park’s many functions.
“Under the current formula that we use, everything is spelled out. I would definitely be stricter in a number of areas — I’m going to make sure the police are involved in training employees. You need to work with everyone involved to make sure that the standards are met,” Mroz said.
State response was swift
North Tonawanda Police arrested two employees at the Saturday canal show a week prior to the show’s permit being revoked.
Two employees were arrested for each selling one 12-ounce draft beer apiece to two “decoys” working undercover with the North Tonawanda Police Department. A week later, last Saturday, officials with the liquor authority arrived unannounced to seal the taps.
At the time state officials entered Gateway Harbor Park to stop the flow of beer, accounts by the event’s liaison, city officials, police and others indicate no one knew what was coming.
Promoter Vinnie Lesh of Concerts Plus of WNY hasn’t officially commented on the matter, but a letter and facsimile sent by the state liquor authority to permit holder JMD of WNY Inc., dated July 31 was post marked Aug. 4 — two days after officials canceled the booze midway through a performance by Dark Star Orchestra.
“The way they did it, I just can’t believe this,” Mroz said. “I walked into this — do you know the potential they had for danger? I mean, think about it.” He added, “I’m not mad at our police department.”
Larry Denef, liaison for the concerts and the City of North Tonawanda and Mroz each stated they feared at the time that the move could have sparked violence on the part of revelers unable to get a refund after the deal changed midstream. That apparently was not the case, and Denef at one point attributed the calm to the nature of the music and fans in attendance to see the well-known Grateful Dead cover band.
“I don’t mean to be crass but our concern isn’t really giving the guys proper notification, our concern is public health and safety,” Crowley said.
Of the late notification and abrupt visit he said: “It certainly wouldn’t have been intentional. What we typically do is we try to get to the venue when it opens. If we’re going to take it away, the best case scenario is to come and take it before the event starts.”
Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.
