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Those followed one less than a week earlier in Englewood.
“You may think this game of cat-and-mouse ... is kind of cute, but let’s be honest, it can be deadly,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.
“And, by the way, when you act like a knucklehead, you show your true self. You show you don’t care about your community. You show you don’t care about your customers or your employees. You prove you only care about yourself,” the governor said.
Murphy specifically cited two makeshift Paterson speakeasies closed by city authorities over the weekend.
Music from an illegal club that stayed open till 5 a.m. could be heard by Paterson police who pulled up behind a small Park Avenue shopping center, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
Sgt. Mohan Singh and Detectives Thomas Giaquinto and Salvatore Macolino were all in uniform when they entered the club through the rear door off Carroll Street, "which was open and had a security guard posted at the door for security purposes," around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, he said.
They found several patrons at 10 tables, each with a lighted hookah that collectively filled the room with smoke as a DJ spun music blasted through large speakers, Speziale said.
Various liquor bottles were submerged in buckets of ice at several tables, where patrons drank openly, he said.
None of them would tell Singh who owned the business, he added.
In another room, the officers found several bottles of booze, a cooler full of ice and beer, several hookahs and hookah parts, a sheet listing prices of bottles of alcohol and several receipts for the sale of liquor, Speziale said.
They identified and arrested managers Yinaiqui Nunez and Jose Santos while ordering the patrons to leave before securing the premises, he said.
Among the items seized were 10 bottles of Buchanan Deluxe Scotch, two bottles of Remy Martin, six bottles of tequila, a dozen bottles of Johnnie Walker and several bottles of various alcohol.
Speziale said 10 hookahs were also confiscated, along with several tips, hoses, charcoal and price lists for both hookahs and alcohol.
They even used American Express receipt holders, he said.
Santos, 37, and Nunez, 22, both of Paterson, were charged with maintaining a nuisance, selling alcohol without a license or permit, smoking indoors and not having an entertainment license, among other offenses. Santos also was charged with resisting arrest and was released, along with Nunez, pending court hearings.
That wasn't the only Silk City establishment hit over the weekend.
After regular business hours ended at 10 p.m., a Peruvian restaurant on Main Street instantly transformed into an after-hours club selling alcohol without a license and providing DJ entertainment, Speziale said.
Akimekedo Restaurant appeared to be closed, but "you could hear loud music from across the street," he said.
Hearing the music shortly before midnight, a trio of uniformed officers -- Detective Mariano Formentin, Sgt. Mohan Singh and Officer John Rivera -- walked in through an unlocked door, the director said.
They instantly spotted 20 or so people "seated at tables with buckets of beer and glasses of alcohol in front of them," Speziale said.
A security guard notified owner Eudies Aguilar Oliva, 42, of Clifton, who went out back to talk with the officers.
There they noticed two large garbage cans, each filled with bottled beer, with bottles of alcohol next to them, Speziale said.
Police had Oliva turn off the music. Through a translator, he told police that he didn't have a liquor or entertainment license, the director said.
Officers then investigated the smell of burning charcoal coming from the kitchen and found a hot plate on the counter and hookah pipes lined along the floor, he said.
Police confiscated the booze, which Speziale said included 10 bottles of 12-year-old Buchanan Scotch, five bottles of Aguardiente, four bottles of tequila and five 24-count cases of Corona and Heineken beer.
They also seized 15 hookahs, hookah equipment and $457 in illegal proceeds while issuing several summonses to Oliva, who cleared the place, he said.
Police in Englewood said they found 200 or so partiers – few wearing masks or social distancing – along with drugs, alcohol and disabled fire alarms during a pre-dawn raid of a rented space above a Domino's last week.
Englewood PD: Illegal Nightclub Had 200 Guests, Drugs, Booze, COVID Violations
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