La Negrita, 1020 face financial, legal woes

CORRECTION APPENDED.

With news of a police sting against one area bar, and the likely imminent closure of a second, options for thirsty Columbia students may be dwindling.

On Saturday, the owners of La Negrita—a quiet coffee shop by day and lively bar by night— posted a sign stating that the establishment will close indefinitely on April 11. That evening, witnesses and employees reported that 1020 Amsterdam, a favorite campus watering hole, was cited by undercover police for failing to check for patron ID’s.

There was little immediate information on the reasons behind La Negrita’s woes. With the manager absent for the next week, the only comment that bartender Jake Hart could offer was that “the future of La Negrita as it currently exists is uncertain.”

But for those Columbia students who like to avoid the lively nightlife of Amsterdam bars and venture east to La Negrita at Columbus and 109th street, there may be hope.

“There will certainly be a business here in the future,” Hart said.

Meanwhile, La Negrita’s competitor, 1020, was having its own troubles. “At 9:30, 2 cops and an underage trainee came in and ordered drinks,” bouncer Mat Mukkada told Spectator in a Facebook message. Mukkada’s shift began shortly after the incident. “Since no one was carded, the bar got fined. Usually when these sorts of sting operations are planned, it is with 1 or 2 people, so having a group of 3 undercover cops is rare.”
The NYPD’s 26th Precinct, in which 1020 is located, declined to comment, and the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information had little more to say. “There is no comment right now. We weren’t able to find any information,” said John Buthorn, a DCPI spokesman, adding that he had been unable to confirm the sting, or which law enforcement agency was behind it. Buthorn did say that the NYPD vice squad maintains a unit whose purpose is to enforce minimum drinking age laws in city bars.

A 1020 employee who asked not to be identified out of concern for his job, confirmed that the citation had taken place, and said that the bar would likely contest the charges in court.

Unlike La Negrita, however, 1020 is likely to stay put, as Mukkada wrote. “I was talking to the owner and he didn’t seem to be sweating it. He said something about it just being the price of business.”

Sam Levin contributed to the reporting of this article.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, DCPI spokesman John Buthorn was incorrectly identified as John Budick.