Icandy Faces Permanent Liquor License Suspension For Serving Minors

Photo by Bryan Buttler

In case you haven’t noticed, Gayborhood bar Icandy has been shut down all week, after* an Administrative Law Judge suspended its liquor license for three days on the grounds of an unsatisfactory citation history. Previous violations include two counts of selling “liquor and/or malted beverages to minors,” one for allowing minors into the establishment, and another for the use of a loudspeaker that “could be heard beyond licensee property line.”

The violations occurred between April of 2012 and July of 2013, and fines totaling $3,550 have been paid, but, according to Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) Director of External Affairs Stacy Kriedeman, the bar could lose its license permanently.

Starting Thursday, Icandy will be able to reopen and operate until the PLCB comes to a final decision, Kriedeman says. “An administrative hearing will be scheduled, where a hearing examiner will listen to both sides, gather all the evidence and present the case to the PLCB.” That board will then decide whether or not Icandy can have its liquor license renewed. “If the Board opts not to,” she says, “the licensee will have the ability to appeal.”

So far a hearing hasn’t been scheduled.

I reached out to Icandy manager Michael Probe, who didn’t have a lot of input on the situation. He told me via a message on Facebook that, “We will be reopening Thursday at 3pm. The upside [of being closed], at least, is that we are able to take advantage of a little downtime after this crazy Halloween weekend to do some cleaning, organizing, and a little bit of maintenance around the building.”

(h/t @gayinthebigcity)

* In a previous version of this story I mentioned that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) suspended Icandy’s license this week, when it fact it was the Office of Administrative Law Judge.