An Albany bar has been shuttered after a shooting over the weekend.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan says Café Hollywood on Lark Street has had its occupancy certificate revoked after a shooting early Sunday. Sheehan says the establishment will be closed indefinitely with regular inspections to make sure it remains shut down. It’s the second time in three years the restaurant has been closed by the city after violence in the area.
Jesse Sommer owns the New Scotland Spirits Tasting Room on Lark Street.
“There have been multiple instances of the discharges of firearms that cannot be attributed to Café Hollywood, nor can the fight that broke out within hours of Café Hollywood being shuttered. There was a fight across the street, just as there was a stabbing across Central Avenue on Lark Street,” said Sommer.
Sixth Ward Common Councilor and state Assemblymember-elect Gabriella Romero responded to a request for comment by text, writing "This establishment has repeatedly proven it cannot responsibly operate under its current management. The New York State Liquor Authority must revoke Café Hollywood's license in order to protect the safety and well-being of the 6th Ward neighborhood and larger Albany community."
Sheehan, who was not available for comment Monday, previously ordered the bar shut down in July 2021.
"...a specific location in the city that has been the source of a number of challenges and a number of police calls and I felt a very strong sense of urgency that it needed to be closed that we didn't want to go through another weekend of potential violence at that location. And so I issued an executive order that allowed us to waive the notice period that would be required for us to shut that location down is a nuisance," said Sheehan.
Reached for comment, Café Hollywood owner Colin Rost told WAMC his attorney advised him not to speak.
City police say Sunday's victim, a 32-year-old man who was not publicly identified, was in stable condition at Albany Medical Center Hospital after being shot in the abdomen. Authorities say a suspect fled before police arrived.
Sommer claims "a climate of lawlessness" fed by the unhoused has descended Center Square and called on police to step up patrols.
"It's not that difficult. We know that they may, down at City Hall, say that we have a manning problem, that there is insufficient manpower to accommodate all the policing needs of the city of Albany. It didn't look like that to me when I saw 14 squad cars respond at 2 a.m. to Café Hollywood shooting two nights, three nights ago, two nights ago. Nor did it look that way when I saw 10 cars and the fire department respond to the fight that broke out across the street yesterday. My point is that if it is in fact a manpower issue, then what we need to do is figure out how to allocate resources so that on one of Albany's most critical commercial corridors, we have the show of force necessary to dissuade criminality," Sommer said.
The State Liquor Authority tells WAMC it is aware of reports of the shooting and has reached out to Albany Police for copies of their reports and records. "If it's determined there was a violation of law, appropriate charges will be issued and handled through SLA's disciplinary process."
Requests for comment from Albany Police and the city’s Corporation Counsel were not immediately answered.
