NY state pulls liquor license of country club that hosted ‘super spreader’ wedding

by Joseph Choi - 11/09/20 4:32 PM ET

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) announced on Monday that a Long Island country club’s liquor license was suspended after it hosted a “superspreader” wedding that has been linked to more than 30 cases of the coronavirus.

The New York State Liquor Authority charged the North Fork Country Club with multiple charges of failing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 restrictions. The venue is currently banned from serving alcohol until the violations are addressed.

As Bloomberg reports, 113 guests gathered on Oct. 17 at the club in violation of New York’s 50-person limit on non-essential events. Thirty-four people tested positive for COVID-19 after the event.

According to a statement from Cuomo’s office, the wedding resulted in nearly 160 people being exposed and local schools temporarily stopped in-person attendance.

“Hosting one of these events after all New York has been through is obnoxious and irresponsible – not to mention illegal,” Cuomo said in a statement.

The Hill has reached out to the North Fork Country Club for a response.

Cuomo said Sunday that the “political pressure of denying COVID” was gone after Trump lost his re-election bid.

“I think you’ll see a different tone now. I think you’ll even see some governors start to take a different tone now that Mr. Trump is out of office,” said Cuomo while appearing on ABC’s This Week.

Trump’s term ends on January 20.

The U.S. broke its record for most cases recorded in a single day last week when more than 118,000 cases were reported two days in a row.

President-elect Joe Biden announced his coronavirus task force on Monday. The group includes health officials who have previously worked with the administration including immunologist Rick Bright and oncologist Zeke Emanuel.

Former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration David Kessler are also part of the group who will be advising Biden on how to handle the coronavirus pandemic when he assumes office.