City Council Cracks Down on Fake ID Shops

Finding a fake downtown is about to get more difficult.

Shops that sell fake IDs are the target of a new City Council bill passed Wednesday which will make it easier for cops to shut down establishments found to house fake ID makers.

The legislation passed along with a package of other bills about nightlife aimed to curb underage drinking, including a law that calls for cameras at all entrances and exits to bars and nightclubs, and a law which would allow clubs that have repeatedly broken the law to keep their licenses if they hire NYPD-approved "safety monitors" to help them get up to code.

The new laws come two months after the City Council held a Nightlife Summit to respond to high-profile tragedies like the July murder of 18-year-old Jennifer Moore, who had been bar-hopping on Manhattan's West Side before she was killed.

"Let's keep the nightlife headlines where they belong: off the front page and on Page Six," Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., D-Queens and the chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said in a statement.

It may become harder to find a downtown shop that sells fake IDs, but some are skeptical the measure alone will bring results. One campus fake ID dealer who wished to remain anonymous told Spectator last month, "those [fake ID] businesses on campus will end up having an up in their business."

Kevin Lydon, the manager of The Heights Bar and Grill said the owners have had a closed circuit camera system in operation, but that the system didn't store recordings. Lydon said installing new cameras to comply with the law would probably help them with lawsuits, and help police solve break-ins, purse-snatchings, and sort out bar fights. "We don't know how much it's going to be," he said about the cost of the new cameras.

If cameras aren't installed at entrances and exits in 180 days, bar owners could face fines of $1,000 per violation.

The City Council also made an appeal to the state legislature in Albany to mandate that bottle service-when restaurants sell wine by the bottle rather than by the glass-be offered only when monitored by a waiter or waitress.