The owner of an embattled Bay Ridge bar has stepped down from a community police group at the urging of NYPD brass.
The call for the resignation of Peggy O’Neill’s owner John Imbriale from Bay Ridge’s 68th Precinct Community Council came after city cops wrote summonses on Aug. 21 to two minors for drinking on the sidewalk in front of Imbriale’s Fifth Avenue watering hole.
There were also repeated noise complaints against the bar by neighbors to Community Board 10, according to Susan Pulaski, chair of CB10’s Police and Public Safety committee.
As a result, Imbriale relinquished his position as vice president of the Council, a civilian board that works with police to address neighborhood concerns like, um, bars that serve minors.
“We went through our process of getting him removed because of the impropriety of the situation,” Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez, commanding officer of the 68th Precinct, said of Imbriale’s resignation, which came to light at last Monday night’s CB10 meeting, where the bar’s request for a liquor license extension was front and center.
At the meeting, Imbriale — who also owns the Peggy O’Neill’s at Keyspan Park in Coney Island — pointed out that the under-aged drinking citations were issued to individuals outside his bar, not to the establishment itself, which is located between 81st and 82nd streets.
And he said he had fired some “misbehaving” bouncers, putting the bar back on the straight and narrow, he said.
Some members of CB10 were skeptical, but the board ultimately sided with the bar, recommending that the State Liquor Authority renew its liquor license — though asking the state body to grant only a one-year license instead of the typical two-year extension.
That move seemed to please Rodriguez, who said the bar is currently off-limits to his officers.
“There were quality-of-life complaints about his place and other places, and there was a perception that he was adding to it,” said Community Council President Eileen Sacco. “The problem is that you can’t have people from the community coming to meetings and complaining about a place and have the owner standing there as the vice president.”
Imbriale said he resigned to protect the Council’s integrity.
“When you have these accusations coming out, it’s not a good perception [of the Council],” he said. “I always try to do what’s best for the community.”
Longtime Community Council member Mary Rendeiro will replace Imbriale on the Precinct Community Council.
