LOWER EAST SIDE — Longtime neighborhood dive 169 Bar will remain open after reaching a settlement with city officials who sued to shut it down, according to the owner’s attorney.
The city accused the East Broadway bar of serving minors after authorities watched undercover and underage auxiliary police officers purchase beer last November, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
The city initially wanted to shut the bar down, seize its property and fine the bar, records show.
A judge dismissed the case Thursday morning after the bar agreed to take precautions against underage drinking, refuse to serve minors and pay “a small fine,” said attorney Jesse Danoff, who represented owner Charles Hanson.
“The case is over, the bar is open,” Danoff said.
Specifically, the bar agreed to use an electronic ID scanner that records and logs all the IDs run through the device, conduct staff training and use a video surveillance system — practices that are already in place at 169 Bar, Danoff said.
Danoff declined to give the fine’s exact amount but said it was “a few thousand dollars.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Undercover police observing the scene said the bouncer checked the minors’ IDs at the door, according to court documents, but the underage patrons were still allowed in the bar.
The bartenders did not ask the auxiliary officers for their ages or identification when they bought cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller Lite, according to affidavits signed by undercover police.
Hanson denied the allegations, saying that police began paying attention to the bar after a neighbor began making numerous complaints.
Danoff said the bar did not admit any wrongdoing in court. He said he suspected the undercover officers might have been using fake identification because video footage from the second incident on Nov. 20 showed the underage officer acting suspiciously before the bouncer kicked him out.
Hanson said he was grateful to the support he received from “customers, friends and fans.”
“It’s clear your response to the call for our demise was noticed in ‘City Hall’ and certainly helped us resolve the situation,” he said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with the police as we have in the past, to do the best we can for our community.”
