From the Forum West:Another problem is vandalism in overnight hours, including graffiti, smashed windows and damaged cars. According to the residents, the majority of the problems occur late on Monday nights, when O’Neill’s restaurant and bar is filled with customers, including many teenagers, enjoying their weekly hot wing special. “They just completely wreck the neighborhood,” said one resident.
Said another resident: “We know that George O’Neill has to make a living, but the feeling among people living here is that he has the cops in his pocket. Nothing is done about the drinking and the 18- and 19-year olds speeding off.”
On Tuesday, restaurant assistant manager Melissa Meadows said that no underage patrons are served alcohol and expressed doubt that the vandalism is caused by O’Neill’s customers.
“We are aware of the situation and had a couple of friends in last night to keep an eye on this,” she said. “The worst part about it is, the complaints we are getting are due to the fact that they [the customers] are of a different color other than Caucasian… The neighborhood people don’t like the fact that we have n-----s and s---s in our neighborhood.”
“I wouldn’t want a bunch of underage kids sitting on my stoop waiting to eat wings, but it’s a very prejudiced neighborhood,” continued Meadows. “We are part of the community, the place has been here since 1928. We’re not looking for a bad reputation.”
Hey, Maybe Georgie O'Neill would like to pick his gin joint up and move to a different neighborhood. I for one am sick of the urination on front lawns, loud drunken behavior, illegally parked cars (and commercial truck parked by fire hydrant 24/7) and 104th Precinct looking the other way when it comes to this place.
Apparently, if you own a "cop bar", not only do you feel entitled to get away with murder, but you also feel free to talk trash about your neighbors, many of whom are your patrons. Not looking for a bad reputation, eh? You already have one, babe. This just proves the contempt this place really has for the area they've called home "since 1928" (actually it's been there since December 5, 1933 - the day Prohibition ended - and was originally called the Plateau Tavern). And it sounds more like Ms. Meadows has the issue with the skin color of the patrons at O'Neill's rather than the victims living in the neighborhood who never mentioned race while complaining about the vandalism they suffered.
But hey, many Democratic fundraisers are held at the restaurant (Joe Crowley, Marge Markey, etc.) and a certain former elected official and convicted granny molester regularly fell off a bar stool there and enjoyed big meals with what was left of his campaign cash, so things will surely just continue as usual.
Did other papers report on this? Well, the Ridgewood Times painstakingly detailed the neighbors' complaints but then referred to O'Neill's as "a nearby bar" without naming it. Why? Perhaps it's because they have an ad for "O'Neill's legendary chicken wings" on page 25...
Photos from Queens Tribune
51 comments:
That place needs to be reigned in. There are regularly drunks in front, with beer bottles that get smasshed on the curb in front and in the surrounding area. They are loud and annoying, at all times of the night. With the volume of business they get, they cant hire someone to stay outside and regulate their crapbag patrons?
H-m-m-m-m...
and if it's a "cop bar" and protected by the clubhouse as well, you can't even ask a favor of the mafia to restore order in the nabe.
Sigh...
where's Don Corleone (or rather O'Banyon... after all it's an Irish thing) when you need him?
O'Neill's is an odd duck of a place. It's not managed professionally.
One year on a quiet Sat evening, I brought my elderly folks there for dinner as a change and chance to experience the food. When we entered, the hostess was upset and expressed to us that we had no reservation which is alway's neccessary?? There was no one there at 7pm except 1 couple. The service was rude, wait for the entree was long and the dinner was over-priced and overly over-cooked.
There are 2 schools of thought on O'Neils - you are a regular and treated like royalty and think the world of them or your a resident who experiences the valet parking issues nightly, adult drunks puking on neighboring stoops and all the noise that it creates nightly.
They double park in front of the establishment, BBQ outside, do not card for underage drinkers and cater to the Pols and newspapers for the right coverage to defend themselfs.
What civilized resident of Maspeth, Middle Village, or, for that matter, would ever want to eat at this outhouse?
The food is horrible, prices way too high, service far too shitty, and the other obnoxious, drunken louts shouting and bellowing through the night.
Neighbors, use common sense: if O'Neill's is hospitable to the likes of the defective bacteria called Gallagher, that the billboard that O'Neill's doesn't want you. They have their standards, you know?
Which was there first, O'Neills (under any name) or the complainers? With a bar comes disorderly patrons, especially a bar the size of O'Neill's, and especially in a neighborhood where there isn't another bar close by. It's like moving next to an airport, then complaining about the noise of the jets.
When the people moved in, O'Neill's was nowhere near as large as it is now. A couple of years ago they expanded. Regardless, it's no excuse for attracting hoodlums that perpetrate vandalism, and the people who live near there should not be subject to it. There needs to be better police presence as a deterrent.
hey crappy thanks for posting this i live near o'neill's on 63rd st , there are without a doubt the worst run business i have ever seen. underage kids drinking every night fighting outside . the best is in the articile the police dept states that this is the first they have heard about this situation maybe if they drive by see the cars parked on the sidewalks and parked in the bus stop every night with there nypd placards in the windshield maybe they would have a clue why they get away with this . i guess a free drink or two to the nypd and local pols goes a long way . maybe that why george no longer lives in the neighborhood he wont live near his own place
i love the truck parked in front of the hydrant for over 2 years now and has never received a summons . the truck is used to store there trash see all the kitchen help throwing the trash in there all the time i live near there and cars are always gettin tickets but not for george wonder why this is but then again according to the manager at o'neill's i am nothin but a ignorant racist
NYPD Internal Affairs
Yeah, that truck with the garbage in it is in the photo.
I don't know if it is so much a cop bar as much as it is a fire department bar. I know of alot of firemen that hang out there, and I see their cars with their placcards in the windshield, parked all over the place. They are double parked, parked on the sidewalk, in the bus stop, and even in front of fire hydrants, which you would think firemen would know better than to do. In any respect, cops and firemen seem to go hand in hand in this city, and the cops seem to look out for them as they do their own.
Clearly the last anon is neither cop nor fireman, as the two in this city certainly do NOT go hand in hand. Their hatred of each other rivals that of Yankee v. Red Sox fans.
I agree, it's much more of a FD bar than a PD bar.
So why don't their cars get tickets?
because george plays the politcal game and thinks his place is so special
hahaha...white people hate change
And people of other races enjoy having their property vandalized?
Melissa Meadows and George O'Neill are waiting for us on Facebook.
They also park their commercial vehicle in the front yard of a house across the street which is a violation of the zoning code.
just face it o'neill's is ccrap and they treat the neighborhood like it also
Ironic quotes from George in an 2005 article in the NYT after 45 car tires were slashed near the bar.
The neighborhood, meanwhile, is still recovering. George O'Neill, who owns O'Neill's, the neighborhood's most popular bar and an informal town hall, papered the streets with fliers offering a $500 reward for information about the vandals.
''A friend of mine had a brand new car, and they totally destroyed it,'' he said. ''They're sick kids.''
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EFDF163AF935A15755C0A9639C8B63&scp=1&sq=O'Neill's%20maspeth&st=cse
guess it sucks when it happens to you.
I played in that shithole one New Years Eve, what a box of white trash.
Nothing to do with wings..its no doubt young over served Monday night sore looser football fans.
This is always a problem with Irish and Slovic bars where its over soccer
Maybe I'll write about this for the Juniper Berry.
hmm id be curious if they have an outdoor acfe liscense for the tables they set up on the sidewalk in the summer
They have a Mexican army of illegal staffer working for them. The owners have long been getting rich off the backs of cowering Mexicans to do the dirty work of this place.
The food is over-priced and over-rated fare with 3rd world service folks and atmosphere. (bunch of drunks whopping it up at the bar).
Well that s'plains that !!
They have pizza on the Menu, the sauce was like canned battery acid, spices, spanish peppers we were like WTF ?
What do Mexicans and Irish bar owners know about making NYC pizza ?
I can make from scratch dough and all. My uncle had a pizza parler on Dekalb and Wilson. I worked as a kid.
If you don't patronize the place - you will have one less thing to complain about...
"Neighbors, use common sense: if O'Neill's is hospitable to the likes of the defective bacteria called Gallagher, that the billboard that O'Neill's doesn't want you. They have their standards, you know?"
Say what you want about O'Neill's, Taxpayer, but why does everything have to be connected to Gallagher? He's yesterday's diapers. He's out of the scene. You're two Council members removed from him. Crowley is even moving out of his office. Can't you make the point about O'Neill's without invoking Gallagher's name? Does everywhere Gallagher go now equal a cesspool tainted by that "defective bacteria"? He lives in Middle Village-- does that make the entire community tainted? By that logic, doesn't that make you tainted?
Say what you want about the wheels of justice in Gallagher's case. What's done is done, unfortunately. This is New York City. This is the system; that's likely not to change. Invoking his name doesn't change a thing, nor does it reinforce any argument you're trying to make. It actually weakens it. So why obsess over it any longer? Keep your focus on the problems of today, rather than dwell on yesterday.
Gallagher still drinks at O'Neill's, a violation of his plea deal. He spent his campaign money on personal dinners there. Knowing this, why does O'Neill's not ask him to stay away?
Officer Green should tell us how the good people of his precinct can get a fair break when the bouncers and cops are chummy with each other and when the bouncers in some cases ARE cops.
Gallagher still drinks at O'Neill's, a violation of his plea deal. He spent his campaign money on personal dinners there. Knowing this, why does O'Neill's not ask him to stay away?
why not? why do they care about his plea deal or where his money comes from?
Why do they care about crimes on premises, the way the neighborhood feels about them, the peeing in the streets, etc.? As long as they make money, right?
Why do they care about crimes on premises, the way the neighborhood feels about them, the peeing in the streets, etc.? As long as they make money, right?
RIGHT, NOW SHUT UP
Oh it looks like the O'Neill's defenders found the blog. Ol' Georgie must be sweating his nutsack off. Maybe next they'll bribe reporters with with 10 cent wings as an attempt at damage control.
FIRE MELISSA "KKK" MEADOWS!
Mellissa O'Neils assistant Mgr.is firing back saying the nabe is preduiced? Baloney - that's a desperate attempt to switch the negative attention the owner is receiving onto another isse. If this were true, then O'Neils should move out of the nabe!
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS TONIGHT - SUPER BOWL SUNDAY - LOT'S PISSING ON THE LAWN TONIGHT? - WATCH OUT O'NEILS WE ARE GUNNING FOR THE UNDERAGE DRINKER TONIGHT LEAVING YOUR PLACE - GOING TO KEEP THE LOCAL PRECIENCT BUSY!!!!
Stop with the threats and get a life ! Maybe you can borrow Gallagher's..enjoy the game..
Hey I heard O'Neill's and Barosa gamblers got taken for big money in the Ponzi scandal. True?
heard that also
Show me which glass Gallagher's drinkin' from and I'll piss in it!
Hey I heard O'Neill's and Barosa gamblers got taken for big money in the Ponzi scandal. True?
True! Yes Virginia, there is a God.
Is there really a difference between pissing in the street and pissing all over the internet, Bob? Isn't that all you do all day long?
Honestly, who's polluting the community more than you, right?
And have you even got the balls to post this? Doubtful, coward...
So you have a problem with a place that makes everyone feel at home - old and young - gamblers and priests - pizza or shepard's pie...why not go home and give a dose of complaints to your wife..she may care how you feel..
O'Neill's is shithole. Hands down a blight to the community. I had an Irish friend who lived across on 53rd, had to sell his house because he couldn't take the constant disruption any more.
Maspethian said it right when he said it's patronized by "crapbags".
No one has mentioned the 4th of July fireworks crapfest that shuts down 65th, and gets all the little crappies in their backyard shooting off bottle rockets in to the night.
They expanded into the Korean laundromat next door, after the mom & pop's equipment shut down and they were evicted. So the neighborhood had to go and pick up their shirts. Going downstairs, I saw that there is sort of a complex down there being worked on, the expansion had begun, and beneath the O'Neill's property was space and some tables set up. You can use your imagination as to what basement tables would be used for.
GEORGE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE RESIDENTS OR ANY BODY ELSE.HE EMPLOYS IRISH STAFF WHO HAVE NO DOCUMENTATION AND PAYS THEM OFF THE BOOKS .HE'S ONLY INTERESTED IN THE DOLLAR.
Well, you won't have to worry any more. A 4th Alarm Fire ran through O'Neil's early tonight, and the building is now ancient history. Burned to the ground. So I guess people will have to find another place to complain about...
Well all you complainers should be happy that the joint burned down last night, but most likely an inside job for further expansion
Oh Gosh, I loved this place! I used to live right around the corner (64th), but moved down south in December 2011. I remember when it burned down. It was always packed there around 5:00pm and over. I think they didn't make that much noise. Yes, the beer bottles smashed all over the place isn't cool. It was my favorite restraunt and why are some of you saying it has terrible service and crappy food? Yes, some of the workers aren't the brightest, but the food is amazing. There is a separation between the bar and restraunt, did you know that?
Well, They're back with a vengeance. Today (1/25/15) they have 53rd drive closed off to the Q67 bus and all traffic, with the NYPD standing guard and NYPD traffic towing vehicles for what? A massive tent across the whole street for who knows what stupid event. Who approved this? Why wasn't the neighborhood notified of a private road closure???
I wish there was some way to keep pressure on them to stop with the neighborhood bullying. Their valet parkers take up all the spots for blocks around. They park illegally everywhere. They even cover up the NO STANDING signs in front of their restaurant with canvas on Sundays for some sort of 5 car meetup. Their patrons are loud and obnoxious, often you'll hear the violent ones fighting with each other or their girlfriends as they drunkenly stumble to their cars only to speed off into the night under the influence.
The 104th precinct looks the other way because he's a good-ol-boy and ALL 311 complaints come back as nothing found, nothing done.
There's a big fundraiser there today for St. Jude hospital with famous sports stars.
George had highway 3 all over his son inlaws bar "ONIELLS" after he got thrown out for stealing from him. He got 30 something people locked up for dwi in 2007. That's the kind of guy he is.
Looks like the streetracers, drug dealers and gangbangers are back again. The resurgence in gang tagged street light poles and street racing up and down 65th place tell the story. Right along side of everyone else parking wherever they please and screaming at their girlfriends as they careen off into the night at closing time. Meanwhile, the neighborhood has to dodge their stupid valet parking people speeding up and down the streets at 50+. The cops do nothing because they're parked in front in marked cruisers while they're inside likely tying one on. (isn't this a violation of some sort? Frequenting bars while on duty)??? Meanwhile, 311 requests go unresolved week after week.
Post a Comment