Underage drinkers busted at Fenwick's bar

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As Valentine’s Day waned into the early morning hours of Feb. 15, Fenwick’s Bar & Grill had a date with the NYPD.

In a police raid on the 432 W. 238th St location, officers from the 50th Precinct issued criminal summonses to eight minors for drinking at the bar with fake IDs.

No summons was issued to the bar itself. Police said they would privately deal with Fenwick’s “in a separate manner,” but did not provide details.

The raid came after years of criticism from the community about the bar.

“I would say that Fenwick’s has had issues responding to the community for a while,” said Arlene Feldmeier, the chairwoman of Community Board (CB) 8’s Public Safety Committee. She added that concerns about the location, where the decor includes several bras dangling above the bar, regularly crop up at her committee’s meetings. 

Past concerns have included excessive noise and fights pouring onto the street, in addition to underage drinking.

When the bar’s current owners, Anne Travaglini and Ernie Carafa, took over four years ago, they vowed to improve the location’s reputation with both residents and police. At the time, community affairs officers for the 50th recommended that Ms. Travaglini and Mr. Carafa employ licensed doormen and ID scanners, but the duo and their lawyers stopped short of promising any specifics.

During recent visits to Fenwick’s at different hours of the day and night, a bartender said that the location had taken up both means of keeping underage drinkers out, though neither doormen nor an ID scanner were visible. The bartender declined to show the scanner or comment further.

Other requests for comment from Fenwick’s went unanswered, with phone numbers publicly listed for the bar apparently disconnected.

After the raid on Feb. 15, Mr. Carafa attended the 50th Precinct’s Community Council meeting on March 12 to proclaim the bar’s innocence.

“We have doormen; we have scanners at the front door,” Mr. Carafa said. “The community board thinks noise is coming from us, but there’s another deli down the street where the kids also congregate.”

A spokesman for the 50th was skeptical.

“That’s what always happens. They get busted, then they show up at the next meeting to try to dispute it,” he said.

Fenwick's Bar & Grill, underage drinking, fake ID, Nic Cavell