Owner of Celtic Crossing Tavern in Kings Park blames ID scanner after authorities find 200 underage patrons at the bar
The Celtic Crossing Tavern on Pulaski Road in Kings Park. Credit: Joseph Sperber
The owner of a Kings Park bar, occupied by more than 200 underage patrons on Saturday night for a party advertised on social media before they were raided by police, blamed the issue on the tavern's ID scanner and said additional precautions will be put in place to prevent it from happening again.
In a social media post Sunday, Melissa MacDougall, owner of Celtic Crossing Tavern, said the popular Kings Park bar was visited by police because of "overcrowding" and that law enforcement detained customers and employees but that no one was hurt.
"The customers were then released individually after their IDs were scanned and verified through a confiscated scanner we use every weekend, revealing multiple fake IDs," MacDougall wrote on the Kings Park Community Facebook page. "Three bartenders were ticketed, and Celtic received 10 minor violations, including installing an exit sign, removing power cords, discontinuing DJ services, and taking down a light. ... Our licensed and insured bouncer will utilize a new ID scanner moving forward. I understand concerns and assure you that extra precautions will be taken to prevent similar incidents."
At approximately 10 p.m. on Nov. 22, officers from the Suffolk County Police Department's 4th Precinct, New York State Liquor Authority and the Smithtown Fire Marshal's Office conducted an inspection of the Pulaski Road tavern following community complaints and discovered more than 200 underage patrons inside, officials said.
Three bartenders, two age 19 and another 21 — the legal age to pour alcoholic drinks in New York is 18 — were charged with selling alcohol to a person under age 21, police said. The bartenders were issued field appearance tickets and will appear in court at a later date.
In addition, a loaded shotgun was recovered from the bar, authorities said.
The bar will remain closed, police said, until the violations are cleared.
"We are a local community tavern with amazing customers & employees and would like to keep it that way," MacDougall, who did not respond to multiple requests for additional comment, wrote in her Facebook post. "We appreciate all of our regular patrons and have a really fun happy hour and day crowd. I’m doing everything I can to fix our weekend night issues. With the help of this new scanner and the [state Liquor Authority] I feel we are headed in a better direction."
In the nearly 300 comments related to MacDougall's post, many members of the Kings Park community defended MacDougall, noting that she donates regularly to community fundraisers, with many blaming the high-tech fake IDs that are available for purchase online by underage individuals.
A flyer posted on Instagram shows the bar was featuring two DJs and half-priced drinks from 8 to 10 p.m. on Saturday.
The State Liquor Authority declined to comment while a Smithtown Town spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.
This is not the first time Celtic Crossing has been cited by state authorities.
Records provided by the SLA show Celtic Crossing has been fined three times, totaling $26,000, in the past six years.
The bar was slapped with 12 citations in 2018, including for illegal gambling, locked exit doors and failing to maintain adequate business records, and was fined $20,000, records show.
In 2021, the tavern was hit with three citations during the COVID-19 pandemic for issues related to masking and social distancing and was fined $2,000, agency records show.
And in 2023, after a bartender was issued a field appearance ticket by Suffolk police for selling alcohol to two underage customers, Celtic Crossing was fined another $4,000, records indicate.
In addition, the SLA issued the bar three warning letters — in 2011, 2013 and most recently on May 1 — citing allegations that the bar was serving alcohol to minors.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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