NJ attorney general suspends liquor license for Paterson councilman’s business

PATERSON — The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has imposed an indefinite liquor license suspension on Councilman Michael Jackson’s restaurant on Grand Street.

In a letter dated Feb. 22, state officials notified the councilman that his restaurant, Jacksonville, “must cease doing any alcoholic beverage business.”

The attorney general’s letter cited a Feb. 16 order issued by New Jersey Alcoholic Beverage Control Director James Graziano that said Jackson failed to make a $5,500 payment due last September that was part of an agreement allowing him to reopen after a previous suspension.

What did Jackson say?

Jackson said he has not yet seen the attorney general’s letter but that he plans to address the $5,500 payment cited in the ABC order.

“That’s going to be taken care of shortly,” the councilman told Paterson Press on Monday morning.

Jackson said he has had difficulty making that payment because city officials have not allowed him to resume regular business operations at Jacksonville for several years. Moreover, he said, he has been paying legal fees in his ongoing battle with the city over the business.

Graziano’s order said the state ABC division had imposed an “indefinite” suspension against Jackson’s business on Feb. 3, 2022, along with a separate 110-day suspension. The order did not provide details of the basis for those penalties.

The state ABC lifted Jackson’s liquor license suspension on Sept. 28, 2022, in an agreement that said he would pay $11,000 in two installments — half on Sept. 1, 2023, and the rest on Sept. 1, 2024, Graziano’s order said.

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Two extensions were granted

After Jackson failed to make the payment due last September, the state gave him two extensions, the order said. On Feb. 7, the state said told Jackson’s lawyer that the indefinite suspension would be reinstated because of the lack of payment, the order said.

Graziano’s directive said the indefinite suspension would remain in effect until Jackson pays the $5,500 he owes the ABC.

Jacksonville has been closed for regular business operations for years. But the councilman has held several special events at his restaurant. At least twice, city inspectors went to Jacksonville during those special events and issued the councilman health code violations — once on New Year’s Eve 2022 and a second time in April 2023.

Jackson has said his business was the target of selective enforcement by the city health division — something municipal officials have denied.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ AG suspends liquor license for Paterson councilman’s business