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Jan. 22, 2016 By Michael Florio
A bouncer at a controversial bar was charged earlier this month with attempted murder after stabbing a patron, according to police, just weeks after Community Board 3 said the establishment should not be allowed to get its liquor license renewed.
The stabbing took place at Mala Noche No, located at 39-09 104th Street, after the bouncer threw a 33-year-old man out of the bar at about 3:50 am on Jan. 11, according to police.
The bouncer, Harold James, 51, then approached the victim and stabbed him in his chest, police said.
The bouncer then took off and was later arrested the next day. He has since been charged with attempted murder, two charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.
This was not James’ first mix up with the law, according to the NYPD. He has a long rap sheet, with arrests dating as far back as 1982. He was arrested numerous times for drug related crimes in the 1980s and 1990s, police said.
On December 17, Community Board 3 opposed Mala Noche No’s application to renew its liquor license citing problems the establishment has had with the law.
Edmund Rosenbaum, co-chair of the Board’s Business/Economic Development Committee, which handles liquor license applications, said the decision was due to summonses the NYPD has issued at the establishment, as well as its perceived habit of operating as a bar while claiming to be a bar/restaurant.
However, the State Liquor Authority ultimately opted to approve the application.
An SLA spokesperson told the Jackson Heights Post on Friday, “at the time the decision to renew this license was made, the SLA had not yet received the community board’s opposition.”
“However, the SLA recently received referrals from the NYPD and have opened an investigation regarding the January assault,” he added.
According to Rosenbaum, the 115th Precinct is also seeking revocation of the establishment’s liquor license.
“They [115 Precinct] are seeking a stop from any license at that location for a two-year period,” he said.
The restaurant’s owners could not be reached for comment on this story. Mildred Sanchez, who represented the bar at their CB 3 presentation, declined to comment.
However, after the Board’s December vote to deny the license renewal, Sanchez told the Jackson Heights Post that she felt concerns of illegal activity at Mala Noche No were overblown.
Sanchez said that the bar had only received two summonses, one in July and one in November. She said both were for sales to an intoxicated person, but she claimed the bar received one at 4:30 a.m., well after the bar announced last call before 4 a.m.
She said the other summons occurred when a customer came already intoxicated from another establishment. She claimed that the bar called the police regarding this customer and when the cops showed up they issued the bar a ticket.
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2 Comments
We need a Suspension
of alllllll new liquor
licences in J Hts
We are flooded in
booze already
We also need to
limit when Liquor
stores can open
How is this guy a bouncer with the rap sheet hes got and why does he have a knife. My friend is a club security employee and now you have to be certified,who hired this manic