Owners of the Colonie Lounge got a reprieve Tuesday when a judge postponed his decision on whether to close the bar for 45 days for using a newspaper ad depicting a topless woman, according to The Buffalo News.
State Supreme Court Justice Frank A. Sedita Jr. did not say when he would rule on the case. He had found that the Colonie had violated a 1997 agreement with the city that permitted the bar to remain open under a new ownership.
Attorney Timothy Ball had asked the judge to shut down the business for 45 days and impose a $45,000 civil fine along with a $1,000 criminal fine on bar owners Kathleen and Joseph Paradowski for the violation. He had also asked for the pair to place $50,000 in an escrow account to cover any future violations.
First Amendment attorney and AVN columnist Paul J. Cambria, who represented the couple, said the topless photograph was placed in the newspaper by accident and without the bar owners’ knowledge.
