Operation Prevent led to the demise of a second bar frequented by Syracuse University students last weekend when Joseph Riccardi, the owner of Planet 505, decided to shut down in response to a raid.
Police and members of the New York State Liquor Authority performed a routine bar raid at about 7 p.m. Sept. 17, netting 11 fake or fictitious IDs in the premiere Operation Prevent strike of the year. Planet 505 reopened after the incident at about 9 p.m., and business continued until closing.
Over the weekend, however, Riccardi decided he’d had enough.
‘We’re closed, we’re done,’ he said. ‘I am sick of it. It’s just a never-ending story.’
Riccardi said the mounting costs of taxes, licenses and fines made the bar an unmanageable hassle, adding that the police were targeting his business.
‘I closed because I’m sick and tired of this bullshit,’ he said. ‘They were out to get us anyway.’
Riccardi’s complaints echo those of John Cadorette, the owner of Konrad’s Sports Bar, who questioned the legitimacy of repeated raids at his bar last spring that culminated with its closure by an emergency order of the Liquor Authority.
Lt. Shannon Trice, of the Syracuse Police Department and head of Operation Prevent, said the raids are not targeted, but based on complaints from the community and past record with the authorities.
‘(Riccardi) had several other problems with the state Liquor Authority, and there were previous incidents,’ Trice said. ‘Operation Prevent did not lead to his demise but was probably the final nail in the coffin.’
Sgt. Joel Cordone said previous problems – including underage drinking charges dating to last fall – put the business in a weak position to fight the charges added by the raid.
‘(The Liquor Authority and Riccardi) came to agreement that he wasn’t going to operate the bar anymore because he had too many problems,’ Trice said. ‘He could have fought the charges, but it’s apparent that the issues had some merit and he did not wish to fight them.’
Cordone said Riccardi’s liquor license was not suspended, but voluntarily given up, and that the problems unrelated to underage drinking had to do with the use of liquor license at the bar.
Riccardi said the main obstacle to a bar in the university area, however, was the risk of fake IDs and the likelihood of action by the police.
‘You can’t operate a bar with fake IDs coming in,’ he said. ‘Go into any bar you want – Darwin’s, Chuck’s – there’s underage drinking in every bar.’
Over the course of nine bar raids involving SU students, Operation Prevent racked up 204 charges of possession of a forged or fictitious ID. Of those, 11 came from the Planet 505 raid, and 108 from Konrad’s, which accounts for about 60 percent of the total.
‘I just gave up,’ Riccardi said. ‘I can’t take it anymore.’
Riccardi said he had no plans for the space and was giving up his lease on the property. He speculated another bar would likely take its place.
A spokesman for the New York State Liquor Authority said the agency could not comment on the situation.
Published on October 4, 2004 at 12:00 pm
