A video of people without masks dancing in a conga line at a holiday party at a Republican club in Queens was quickly condemned after it was posted on social media last week.
At the time, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said that “Covid’s conga lines are not good,” and the State Liquor Authority launched an investigation into Il Bacco, the Italian restaurant in Little Neck where the party was held.
Now, at least one person who attended the party has been hospitalized with the coronavirus, and the restaurant’s alcohol license has been suspended indefinitely.
The party was organized by the Whitestone Republican Club on December 9, days before Cuomo closed the covered dinner, and was attended by several dozen people. Most of them did not appear to be wearing masks on the video, despite weeks of official warnings about the danger of holiday meetings when coronavirus hospitalizations soared in New York.
Matt Binder, a journalist, posted a video of the conga line on Twitter on December 21, and a wave of criticism from authorities and the public shortly thereafter.
The club responded with a defiant tone.
“Adults have an absolute right to make their own decisions, and clearly many have chosen to interact as normal humans and not as paranoid zombies in protective suits against danger,” said a statement on the club’s Facebook page on December 22. “This is for some controversial reason to people who believe it is their job to tell us what to do. “
One of the people at the party was James Trent, chairman of the Queens Village Republican Club, who was later hospitalized after recognizing Covid’s symptoms.
Thomas Paladino, son and director of campaign strategy for Vickie Paladino, president of the Whitestone Republican Club and a mayoral candidate, confirmed that Trent was hospitalized with the virus.
Paladino said Trent was fine and should be discharged from a hospital in Nassau County on Thursday.
As “an older person who has a positive Covid test, they are likely to admit you,” Paladino said on Thursday.
Trent told The Queens Daily Eagle, who on Wednesday reported his hospitalization for the first time, that he tried to behave carefully.
“I wasn’t on the conga line,” said Trent. “I ate alone. I don’t know how I got it. “
The Whitestone Republican Club wished Trent “a speedy recovery”, adding that it understood that “his hospitalization was purely out of precaution”.
“If he contracted the virus at our event, at his club’s holiday party held a few days earlier or in the normal course of life, he will probably never be known,” the club said in a statement on its Facebook page on Thursday.
Paladino said he saw news that other party participants had tested positive, but that “as far as I know, there really was no one else” infected with the virus.
“I can say that I didn’t wear a mask all night, I had several conversations with Jim Trent up close and I’m fine,” said Paladino, noting that he hadn’t been tested for coronavirus since the party. (The virus can be transmitted and transmitted by asymptomatic people.)
Gary Holmes, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Health, said the city would lead any potential coronavirus cluster investigations into the incident.
Tinatin Japaridze, the press secretary for the New York City’s testing and screening program, said she could not reveal details about specific cases of the coronavirus because of patient confidentiality rules, but that the agency would investigate the matter, as it does to all cases where the virus may have spread.
Paladino said the club and the restaurant had taken precautions – the party was held on two different floors, everyone was given a mask and a hand sanitizer was available – but that he and the rest of the party’s participants were not “mask policemen. “
The State Liquor Authority opened an investigation into Il Bacco on December 23, two days after the party’s video appeared online.
William Crowley, a spokesman for the authority, said the investigation revealed several violations, including employees who did not wear masks correctly and customers dining in a fully enclosed structure on the roof.
“Investigators found blatant violations of indoor dining regulations and existing health safety and alcohol control laws, by checking to see if the maskless party portrayed in the video actually occurred,” said Crowley in a statement. “This summary suspension should send a strong message that we have zero tolerance for establishments that endanger the health of New Yorkers.
No one responded to several calls to Il Bacco on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We are currently closed until dinner is resumed,” said a message in the restaurant’s voicemail. “We missed you and we can’t wait to see you again.”
Tina Maria Oppedisano, manager of Il Bacco, and her father, Joe, the owner of the restaurant, were part of a group that sued Mayor Bill de Blasio and the governor for closing indoor restaurants over the summer. She remained critical of restaurant restrictions.
“I don’t understand why we can’t just conduct our business,” Oppedisano told The New York Times in December.
The potentially risky parties are nothing new during the pandemic, and large gatherings that could become so-called over-sprawling events have created consternation in the region.
Democrats and Republicans alike have been criticized for not following coronavirus precautions at events like a Democratic mediator’s birthday party in Brooklyn and a Young Republican gala in New York in Jersey City, NJ
New York and New Jersey officials have not confirmed whether any positive coronavirus test results were related to any of the events.
Paladino said the club was not investigated, adding that “what is happening with Il Bacco is terrible”.
“We feel the situation in which they were placed by the state terribly,” he said.
Asked if he thought the club’s actions were responsible for the loss of Il Bacco’s alcohol license, Paladino said Cuomo’s rules were so strict that it was almost inevitable.
“If it weren’t for us, it would have been someone else,” he said.