New York City Businesses are under a series of new COVID restrictions enacted last week, but one bar isn’t closing its doors - the owners are declaring the establishment an "autonomous zone."
Mac’s Public House has been hit with thousands of dollars in fines, but it was reportedly open again this past weekend complete with signs declaring it an autonomous zone.
Co-owner Keith McAlarney tells WABC-TV the business is on the brink of shutting down and is fighting just to exist.
But the bar still opened as usual Saturday. Around 8 p.m. that day, state Health Department workers came by and “ taped some cease-and-desist notices to the window,’’ co-owner Keith McAlarney told The Post on Sunday — but that still didn’t keep the bar from staying open.
The co-owner said the notices were “gone” by Sunday, adding, “Somebody must have taken them down. We didn’t touch it, wasn’t us.”
By 1 p.m. Sunday, the bar was open again, and a steady stream of customers came and went, with up to 14 patrons sitting inside for service at a time.