A video posted to Twitter on Sunday shows the arrest take place. In it, two New York City police officers are seen leading a man away from the entrance to Mexicoma, a restaurant-bar permitted to serve customers through curbside pickup, while a crowd watches. Police then throw the man onto the ground before placing him in handcuffs.
In a statement obtained by Newsweek on Monday, a spokesperson from NYPD’s deputy commissioner for public information said officers patrolling the surrounding area approached the man around 11:15 p.m. EDT Saturday after observing him “causing a disturbance.” Reportedly, the altercation became violent after he resisted arrest.
“When officers approached the male and asked for identification, the male refused and became combative,” the statement read. “Officers attempted to restrain the male and he resisted arrest. The male was issued a summons for having an open container of alcohol.”
Multiple reports of New York City residents gathered near bars and restaurants over the weekend, particularly around those located on the Upper East Side, prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to issue a warning about enforcement on Sunday morning. During the mayor’s daily news briefing to discuss ongoing strategies to manage the new coronavirus pandemic, de Blasio said law enforcement from the NYPD and the sheriff’s office “will be out watching very carefully” to prevent that from happening again.
“I’m not comfortable at all with people congregating outside bars,” he said, noting that gathering in group’s violates the city’s social distancing order and “puts lives in danger” due to risk of spreading infection. “The NYPD is going to focus its enforcement on gatherings,” he added.
“So, the police department will be out, the sheriff’s office will be out watching very carefully on the Upper East Side in particular,” de Blasio continued. “I know we had a particular problem there, but everywhere around the city and we’re not going to tolerate people starting to congregate. It’s as simple as that.”
Under New York’s PAUSE order, enacted in March, restaurants and bars statewide have limited services to take out via delivery or curbside pickup. During the mayor’s Sunday briefing, an NBC reporter referenced a few instances Upper East Side restaurants permitting dine-in operations for customers this past weekend against the order’s terms.
In response, de Blasio said his administration has “seen a lot of compliance” from food service establishments throughout the pandemic but encouraged anyone with information about restaurants allowing dine-in services to inform his office by calling 311.
New York has experienced the highest volume of diagnoses, hospitalizations and fatalities related to the new coronavirus compared with any United States region, with most of its outbreak concentrated in New York City. According to Johns Hopkins University’s tracker, more than 350,121 people have tested positive for the virus in New York throughout the pandemic. At least 28,232 have died, while 61,381 have recovered.
