Ruben Alvarez of Ruben’s Mexican Café said the visit by two police officers and two Building Department inspectors occurred around 10 p.m on Saturday, Feb. 22.

“We had about 60 people, about 18 girls celebrating the birthday and we had about probably 12 or 13 kids inside and they got a little scared when the cops and everybody came to the restaurant,” Alvarez said, adding that he was warned the DJ required a permit (which Alvarez did not have). The police and inspectors left after providing the warning.

Ruben’s Café was one of about ten businesses visited that night, with four given warnings that they were engaging in activities not included in their certificate of occupancy or permissible without a temporary operating permit. In addition to Ruben’s, Tiffany’s Peekskill, Slainte, and Gleason’s, were given warnings.

On October 15, 2024, the city passed a law creating a process permitting businesses to, on a temporary basis, engage in an activity they’re not normally allowed to do as part of their site plan approval or certificate of occupancy. The temporary permit fees can be $125 per event or higher, depending on the size of the event.

City Manager Matthew Alexander told the Herald on Wednesday the Building Department’s intent was just to have a conversation with business owners about activities not included in their original permit approvals.

“The purpose of going out and talking to businesses on Saturday night was to give them a verbal heads up,” Alexander said. “The Building Department has a good working relationship with businesses and they’re able to go out there and meet people and talk to them and explain what the rules are.”

However some business owners claimed the visit by city officials was “aggressive” and compared it to a “police raid.” Alex Mendia of Gauchos Steakhouse told the Herald the visit scared off some customers.

“Everybody was a little scared,” Mendia said. “They started asking questions and they just got up and left. ‘We can’t stay,’ so they just left.” 

Asked how they were “aggressive”, Mendia said an inspector was “screaming” when explaining they could not have the live music.

Victor Garrido, a real estate agent in Peekskill, was one of three who raised the issue at a Common Council meeting and told the Herald he felt the visits seemed to mostly oppress Latino owned businesses.

“Fresh off of the ICE raids, the way it happened scared off a lot of patrons,” Garrido said to the council. “A lot of our patrons may or may not be documented. Even if they are, they’re afraid of authority.”

Hever Palacios of Iron Vine said police visited his business to check the seating capacity but did not issue any warnings. Although he was not present, he said his wife said they checked upstairs, then left quickly. 

Mayor Vivian McKenzie and City Manager Alexander pushed back against those who described the visits as a “raid” or “aggressive.”

“The council is working very hard with the city manager to come up with a way so that if you want to do special events and things of this sort, then there’s a process and procedure for every restaurant/bar to follow,” McKenzie said.

Alexander told the Herald he met with police and Building Department and did not get any description of anything aggressive. He added some businesses visited that night have already had visits from the city for less positive reasons.

“The city has found that there is a higher number of late venues starting up and doing things that keep people out later at night that produce intoxicated people or just noise,” Alexander said, “or maybe even led to the stabbing at Tiffany’s or the shots fired at another restaurant.”

The visits by officials came a week after Alexander and city attorney met with the State Liquor Authority to discuss methods of enforcing bars’ compliance for quality-of-life laws in the city. It also follows months of discussion about proposed limiting restaurant business hours from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. 

Alexander said the city wants to know if a business is acting outside their normal permit so that it can be prepared for providing additional resources such as extra police. He added that additional activities restaurants undertake, that occur late at night, can cost the city $1,000 to $2,000 a night. Alexander also noted that some business owners may not only need a temporary operating permit but to change their entire site plan approval.

Alvarez, owner of Ruben’s Mexican Café, asked the council for better communication, saying the businesses want to work with the city.

“Because we feel that we are harassed,” he said. “…We don’t understand. I mean why are they chasing us like this? I mean we are no criminals. Come and talk to us, give us a letter. Send a letter to us.”

Mayor McKenzie agreed there was a communication issue. City Manager Alexander said a letter explaining the situation is being prepared to be sent out to businesses.

In a statement, Executive Director of the Peekskill Business Improvement District, Bill Powers, said that many downtown Peekskill restaurants offer music as part of their dining experience to attract customers.

“There should have been prior communication, some additional discussion, and a longer period of education before the visits started,” Powers said. “We should all work towards maintaining Peekskill’s status as a vibrant food and entertainment destination – one that protects public safety while allowing restaurants to continue to offer music as part of the overall dining experience.”