SLA agrees to dismiss charges against Woodland if owners pay $12,000 fine (but probe may not be over)

In a very brief discussion on Wednesday, 5/2/18, the New York State Liquor Authority agreed to dismiss all five charges--failure to exercise adequate supervision; “a focal point of police attention;” and disorderly premises--against the controversial restaurant/bar Woodland if the owners pay a fine of $12,000, which is $2,000 more than the licensee proposed.

That would allow Woodland (the trade name for Prime Six, Inc.) to have its liquor license renewed; it had been operating on an extension while charges were being considered. But a close listen to the hearing segment suggests the SLA's involvement with Woodland may not be over.

No representative of Woodland or the public spoke. The discussion occurred at 3:26:40 of the lengthy hearing (video), concerning item #843.

Chairman Vincent Bradley said, "I'm going to dismiss Charge 4, actually, I'm not dismissing 4, because I'm countering at $12,000... I'll dismiss 4 if they accept the 12 [thousand]."

(Previously, the counsel's office had requested that one of the five charges, Charge 4, be dismissed.)

Not so audibly, but in cross-talk, General Counsel Christopher Riano apparently said, “We have further charges coming on this."

"Yeah, I heard that, that's why I did this," Bradley said.

As reported by Patch, an SLA spokeswoman said Woodland's owners have two to four weeks to pay. Also, because the charges will remain on the SLA's records, the authority would have more leverage to shut down Woodland if there are future infractions.

The licensee "can accept this offer or proceed to a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge," a spokesman told me.

Regarding "further charges," Prime Six/Woodland does not face any outstanding charges, I was told. However, Riano's statement suggests that the SLA may not be done looking into the situation.