Hundreds of Astoria partiers defy distancing orders as city starts to intervene

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By David Brand

Hundreds of maskless merrymakers defied social distancing restrictions and packed Steinway Street in Astoria Friday, their late night revelry prompting an eventual crackdown by city officials.

Videos shared widely on social media — Steinway Street was a Twitter trending topic Friday and Saturday — showed the crowds cramming the sidewalks outside some businesses that participate in the city’s Open Restaurants program, which allows for outdoor dining with conditions.

The next day, the New York City sheriff’s officers drove through the neighborhood to disperse crowds and hand out face masks. At least one business, the bar and restaurant Brik Astoria, has been suspended from the city’s Open Restaurants for a week, Gothamist reported Sunday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called the crowds “unacceptable” and said officers would enforce social distancing restrictions in a tweet Saturday.

“New Yorkers have made too many sacrifices to fight COVID-19. We can’t let up now,” he tweeted.

But local Councilmember Costa Constantinides said the the city’s response was days late. The outdoor partying had been going on for a week, with bars disregarding “every rule in the book while the city agencies tasked with enforcing them sit idly by.” 

The city, he said, had “categorically failed” the neighborhood by allowing the parties to continue, despite measures to curb large gatherings.

“Our streets have descended into pure mayhem, the threat of COVID-19 spreading is dangerously high, and Astoria residents are rightfully furious at the relentless noise that goes into the early hours of the morning,” he added. “We are in complete chaos and one drunken fight away from a powder keg exploding.”

Steinway Street was the scene of pre-Covid-style partying back in June, Patch reported, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatening to rescind the city’s reopening plans if bars and restaurants refused to adhere to distancing measures.