FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 8, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 35
Queens businesses compete for cybersecurity
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Queens boasts 43,000 small businesses
with 20 or fewer workers, according
to the Center for Urban Future, and the
number of small businesses across the
borough have increase more than 20 percent
since 2000.
But many small businesses lack the
ability to properly secure themselves
from cyber attacks. With that in mind,
NYC and Cyber NYC have introduced
the Cybersecurity Moonshot Challenge
which calls on industry experts to develop
and deliver new, aff ordable, and scalable
solutions to protect small and midsize
companies from the dangers of cyber
attacks.
“A coordinated cyber attack can aff ect
anyone, from individuals at home to
major corporations and even small businesses
on Main Street,” City Councilman
Peter Koo said. “Th e tech industry in
NYC is focused on creating new protections
for every level of society, and the
moonshot challenge looks to make sure
that our small business community is fi rst
in line to benefi t from these new innovations.”
Koo is chairman of the Council’s
Committee on Technology, and he
added that cyber attacks increasingly
present one of the greatest threats
around the globe. Th e city established a
consortium of international partners to
launch the moonshot challenge, including
a partnership between the city and
Israel’s leading venture capital fi rm,
Jerusalem Venture Partners as well as
global partners from Japan, South Korea,
Singapore, Berlin, Helsinki, London and
Paris. Th ese partners will work with
the city to solicit and evaluate proposals
from companies and startups that
can secure small and midsize businesses
from cyber attacks.
“I think the city really needs to be
eff ective in reaching out to the small,
oft en immigrant businesses with limited
capital and skills and fi gure out a way
to help them — that’s the challenge —
perhaps going through neighborhood
organizations and utilizing the resources
of the library,” Queens Economic
Development Corporation Executive
Director Seth Bornstein said.
City Department of Small Business
Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop
said the de Blasio administration is committed
to enhancing small business resiliency.
“With the Cybersecurity Moonshot
Challenge, the City is taking a signifi cant
step to help local small businesses protect
themselves against modern dangers
so that they can continue to be dependable
cornerstones of our communities,”
he said.
Th e city’s Economic Development
Corporation is the driving force behind
the Cybersecurity Moonshot Challenge.
Cybersecurity is one of our world’s
greatest threats, and we need to be
ambitious about protecting ourselves,”
NYCEDC President and CEO James
Patchett said. “Th at’s why we’re making
New York City a hotbed for cyber
innovation, to protect every New Yorker
and every business — all while creating
good-paying jobs. We are proud to help
launch this important challenge, which
will benefi t New York City and create
game-changing technology for the world
to share.”
Photo via Shutterstock
LIC bar with recent history of violence loses liquor license
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Long Island City bar with a history
of violence and lack of cooperation with
the NYPD has had its liquor license suspended,
according to the State Liquor
Authority (SLA).
Th e authority announced that as of
Nov. 6, no alcohol could be consumed
or sold at Soel Lounge Inc., known as
“Embassy Lounge,” at 33-02 Queens Blvd.
During the suspension period, the SLA
intends to seek the permanent cancelation
or revocation of the license.
“Th is licensee has taken no actions to
stem the violent incidents and rampant
disorder that are occurring at this bar
on a regular basis,” said Counsel to the
Authority Christopher R. Riano. “Th e
complete failure to supervise or off er help
to patrons assaulted at his establishment
poses an imminent threat to the community,
and I applaud the Authority for shutting
down this establishment.”
Embassy Lounge has had a recent history
of disorderly conduct and violence
on the premises. On Oct. 2, 2018, a brawl
broke out between intoxicated patrons,
resulting in a female patron being hit in
the head by a bottle. Th e licensee refused
to call an ambulance for the patron, however
multiple NYPD units had been called
to the scene to break up the fi ght.
Less than one week later on Oct. 7,
an Embassy Lounge patron that was
involved in an altercation inside the bar
was later assaulted by fi ve men outside
the bar, where he was punched, kicked
and slashed. Th e patron ultimately needed
62 staples for his injuries. Th e licensee’s
employees refused to share video surveillance
with the NYPD.
Following these assaults, the NYPD
issued 40 summonses to the Embassy
Lounge for fi re and safety code violations
aft er a joint inspection of the bar with the
SLA.
One of the more violent incidents took
place at the bar on Oct. 26, 2018. A female
bar patron was stabbed by another patron,
resulting in the loss of her eye, and the
licensee failed to call 911 to report the
incident. Later, the licensee refused to
turn over surveillance footage of the incident
to the NYPD.
On Nov. 2, the SLA charged the Embassy
Lounge with twenty-one violations of the
ABC law, including operating a disorderly
premise, employing a felon, failure to
Photo: Google Maps
maintain books and records, and improper
conduct for refusing to provide medical
aid to an injured patron. Th e Embassy
Lounge also had pending cases from the
SLA for employing unlicensed bouncers,
operating a disorderly premise and failure
to supervise their patrons.
Additionally, the SLA fi ned Embassy
Lounge $15,000 on May 2, 2018 for six
charges of operating a disorderly premise.
The Embassy Lounge on Queens Boulevard in Long Island City
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