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Queens Casino Bar Fat Tuesday to Close After Massive Brawl

By Katie Honan | May 27, 2015 6:50pm
 Resorts World Casino has decided to shutter Fat Tuesday's, the bar's chief operating officer said.
Resorts World Casino has decided to shutter Fat Tuesday's, the bar's chief operating officer said.
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SOUTH OZONE PARK — The daiquiri bar that was the site of a massive brawl on its opening day has been frozen out of its casino home, the owner said. 

Resorts World Casino decided to close Fat Tuesday after less than two months in business, according to the bar's chief operating officer, Joe Pando. 

“We’re disappointed,” he said. “[Resorts] had some issues there, as you probably know.”

The New Orleans-themed chain opened April 3 at the casino on Rockaway Boulevard and “business was booming,” until a massive brawl erupted that night, Pando and police said.

“The line got long and two ladies apparently started amongst themselves and then it just grew into a major brawl,” he said.

At least two-dozen people were involved in the melee, with video of the fight showing people yelling, hurling chairs and throwing punches around the casino.

Two men were arrested and another person was given summonses for minor offenses, police said.

As customers exited the casino during the fight, a man allegedly fired several shots in the casino’s parking lot. That man was arrested after facial-recognition software identified him as the shooter, but the district attorney declined to prosecute him. 

The location was the first Fat Tuesday to open in New York City, with 55 other outposts  operating around the country, according to Pando. The chain is famous for a long list of frozen drinks like the Blue Bayou, Eye Candy, Long Island Ice Tea and Cat 5 Hurricane. 

It was closed immediately after the fight and later reopened, but continued to have problems, Pando explained.

“They determined it wasn't a good fit for their environment there. They were having more issues than not,” he said.

A spokesman for Resorts World did not respond to multiple attempts for comment.

The Queens casino made headlines Tuesday after a man who calling himself the "Grim Reaper" shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot, police said.

Dalton Branch, 51, killed Patricia Mohammed, 55, and fired at her coworkers and a man he believed to be her new boyfriend outside Resorts World, where she worked, police and sources said. 

Branch was later shot and killed by police in East New York after opening fire on them, police said.