A longtime Hertel Avenue bar is closed after a neighborhood resident reported what Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz described as an "unofficial happy hour" at Gabels.
In a situation reminiscent of Prohibition, an undercover county sanitarian was sent to the bar and found the bar was serving alcohol to customers on the premises.
Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein shut the bar down after the tip.
"They came in with our Erie County sheriff, cleared the house and were issued an order from me to close," Bustein said at a county news briefing on Facebook Monday afternoon.
Burstein said Gabels now has to provide a plan describing how it can serve takeout without breaking the rules again before it can reopen. Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's NY PAUSE orders, alcohol can be picked up at a bar, but patrons can not be served drinks inside.
Poloncarz said he has heard reports of other bars also operating illegally. Gabels is the third county bar/restaurant to be shut down for illegal service, along with Swannie House and AJ's Clarence Hollow.
The State Liquor Authority was informed of the situation.
