Nyack, Jan 30 — A Friday late night fight in the Riveria Steakhouse at the foot of Main Street resulted in two arrests and an officer being sent to the hospital with shards of glass in his eye.
The melee resulted from a customer stealing several liquor bottles from behind the bar and then throwing one of the bottles through the front window of the restaurant. Eyewitnesses counted at least 22 police cars on the scene. According to the Journal News, officers from Clarkstown, Piermont, South Nyack-Grandview, Spring Valley, the Rockland Sheriff’s Department, New York State Police and New York state Park Police responded to the incident.
The bar fight, which spilled into the parking lot, occurred about 2:30a Saturday morning.
Late night noise at the Riveria Steakhouse has been the subject of frequent complaints from nearby residents since the restaurant opened in 2009.
Source: Journal News, 2/1/2010
The bigger picture here is Nyack’s reputation in the eyes of would be investors. There are more and more empty store fronts everyday in Nyack and a complete disregard for the public space each and every weekend in Nyack by many people.
Regarding previous posts about attracting investors, I do agree that Nyack would benefit by some big name shops, they would create jobs, invest in the infrastructure and in reality they got big because they sell good products and have good ideas. But I’m sure they and other businesses would look long and hard at their neighbors before investing money in Nyack. Right now it looks like the village is on it’s own and the only good investment in the eyes of a businessperson would be either a restaurant or a bar or both combined into one. That will keep Nyack from progressing, despite all the ‘progressives’ that live on the quiet side streets.
Reading the subsequent RJN article it appears this event is proceeding as it should. Kudos to O’Town and all concerned for taking an interest here.
Again, the establishments have to take responsibility for those they serve (it’s part of their agreement with the SLA). If you have a beautiful restaurant that magically turns into a club environment when the clock strikes 11pm or midnight, you’d better have the security AND well-trained bartenders to handle that type of venue as it is a way different crowd than what you’re serving dinner to.
I think everyone needs to take a step back and calm down. Sometimes bars have fights. This one sounded like it became a little more escalated than your typical, but 22 police cars. Now I know where my extremely high property tax dollars are going. I would expect that kind of response at a riot, not a bar fight that 4 to 6 police officers could handle. Maybe the patrons were mad because when they went out to their car parked on a Nyack street, they found a parking ticket. Great way to drive revenue as a town! Kidding/serious, but different topic.
I have also been to that establishment on several occasions and the owners and staff are good people and they run a nice restaurant/bar. Sometimes these things just happen.
Yes really.
The control valve here is the door to the bar.
And it’s not just about Riviera they just happen to be the disease of the week. It’s about all the bars in town, some are worse than others.
I like Riviera too and have eaten there several times, but we aren’t talking about the same crowd are we? Those who come to town for a good meal and socializing and others who show up way past dinner time with the simple agenda of going blotto, or starting a fight.
No I do not think it is “un neighborly” to require that a licensed establishment take responsibility for whom it serves. I know I do when I host at my own home. It’s my house and it’s ultimately my responsibility if my guests were to leave my house and vomit on my next door neighbor’s doorstep or smash beer bottles through his, or my own, window. Do we really want to be the “Jersey Shore” of Rockland? If it is about personal responsibility then everyone has a role to play don’t you think?
I did a little research on the S.L.A. and it’s relationship to a Village like Nyack.
The S.L.A . issues the Liquor License and then renews it on a regular basis pending any outstanding complaints by the Village serious enough to prevent granting the renewal.
This has never happened. If I keep reading here and elsewhere that “we have heard all this before” then either the complaints aren’t being made or someone isn’t paying attention to them when they are.
The question is, how do we track these incidents from when the police are called in such a way as to fairly identify the trouble spots and work within the community to solve the problem. Clearly some incidents warrant more scrutiny than others and not all bars are guilty of tolerating bad behavior, but when people are being assaulted on their way to work in the morning and the streets of Nyack are littered with broken glass and smell like vomit we have a problem and its time we pulled our heads out of the sand (or somewhere else) and take responsibility for the late night landscape we have created.
Here is one way: If you have a fight in your bar, for whatever reason, who ever starts it, you close for a mandatory 36 or 72Hrs (there goes your weekend) while the investigation is completed and the police report is handed up to the Village.
Kind of like the old “time out chair” we have in our house.
Since licensing is a buildings dept issue this would seem to be the proper venue for this complaint. This is now an official complaint, resulting in a temporary suspension, which depending upon seriousness of the incident and the outcome of the investigation may or may not attach itself to the businesses’ building dept file to be reviewed when the license is.
In some extreme cases, the Village could attach some sort of probationary status to frequently offending establishments, say three such incidents in six months, putting them on notice to clean up their acts or at least be more selective in who they choose to serve.
There are places in Nyack who serve responsibly and will turn away trouble when it walks in the door. Others seem to attract it both with salacious ad campaigns we have seen and a “selective gate keeping” of another kind which is a whole different discussion.
I do hope Riviera comes through this intact, I like the food, I also hope the Officer who was injured is OK too. There are some parts of the story that are still unclear and deserve a closer look I think including the unprecedented response by so many different law enforcement agencies. I’d love to hear the dispatch recording from that morning.
I don’t think its fair to the Police who responded Saturday to have to constantly clean up the mess in Nyack. Sooner and later we have to take responsibility for ourselves and by extension, those who we invite into our house.
Pull their liquor license? See who pays attention? Really?
I recently moved to this lovely village of Nyack, and the Riviera was one of the very first places I visited – it’s two houses down from my residence, after all. Since that first visit, I’ve returned regularly, because the staff and owners are some of the kindest, most genuine people I have ever met. In no other establishment have I felt so welcomed and appreciated.
The incident that occurred Friday night is absolutely unfortunate, there’s no question. But to blame the establishment in this situation is inappropriate and un-neighborly. I was attracted to Nyack for its open-mindedness and accepting qualities, and in times like these, I’d hope to see residents embracing their earnest business owners, supporting them in troubled times. The Riviera does not, in any way, invite unruly behavior, and Friday night’s incident is in no way indicative of an average evening there. Noise levels are nothing in comparison to noise levels that emerge from bars a block away. I live two doors down from the Riviera, and I’ve never been bothered.
See all of those cop cars in the photo? They’re all right in front of my home. I have never in my life seen a response of that intensity. I commend the police force for their attentiveness, but anyone looking at that photo would think that something WAY more intense had happened. But I don’t wish to dwell on this issue, because it’s not what matters…
What does matter is that something bad happened at a local establishment, and I, for one, am absolutely sorry that the Riviera suffered from the stupidity and violence of a couple of utterly disrespectful patrons. Let us now show our support of our friends at the Riviera. They are great people and could use some kindness in return for the kindness that they show to their patrons.
The SLA should have some oversight here and I would think it is their responsibility to be monitoring all of the establishments that they issue licenses to, to ensure compliance, including not serving intoxicated (visibly) patrons amongst other responsibilities that come along with that liquor license.
Exactly! Pull their frigin liquor license! It’s not the first time the place has had trouble.
Where is the S.L.A. in Nyack?
Pull a couple of liquor licenses and see who pays attention.