Shamel Kelly, the bar owner, expressed his frustration saying, "I felt it was like I got an ultimatum. It's like either you gonna get with this - or you gonna get shut down." This stark statement captures the pressure he felt to comply with the demands made by officials.
Kelly explained how Ray Martin from the mayor's office initially suggested he could pay the police commissioner's brother for help, stating, "He just said he was an assistant of Eric Adams... He dropped the Eddie Caban name because I guess he is the NYPD commissioner and I was having problems with the NYPD."
Despite facing numerous noise complaints, Kelly revealed that the state liquor authority found no wrongdoing on his part. He mentioned, "I never expected that Ray Martin from the mayor's office would give me this advice... If I don't close the bar, there's only one way to get the police to stop doing what they are doing, which was to speak to one of his friends."
Kelly shared evidence of his communications, with messages from Ray Martin discussing the situation and potential solutions, suggesting a troubling aspect of police and governmental relationships in resolving business issues.
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