Carson City Saloon to reopen in September after closing due to South Side violence
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A popular sports bar on Pittsburgh's South Side that closed temporarily because of crime on East Carson Street will reopen.
Carson City Saloon will reopen its doors on Sept. 7 after closing in July.
"We decided enough was enough. My staff is scared to death to come in. My wife, my brother's wife, everybody is scared for us to come to work, so we just said let's shut down," co-owner Brian Vetere said Tuesday.
When Vetere shut the doors to his bar in early July, he vowed he wouldn't turn the lights back on until something was done to curb the violence. He says the streets were full of crime.
"Our normal customers wouldn't come in and I didn't blame them because why would you want to go to the South Side or anywhere if you just want to go out and have a good time and get shot," he said.
Since the closure, there has been a crackdown. Police deployed a dedicated unit to patrol the neighborhood Thursdays through Sundays from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Dozens have been cited for drunkenness, underage drinking, public urination and smoking marijuana. This past weekend's enforcement saw 10 traffic stops, 18 parking citations, 18 tows, 14 non-traffic citations and three arrests.
Vetere, who has been driving up and down the streets on weekend nights, said the heavy police presence is making a difference.
Janelle Emmolo and Oliva Mangano live on East Carson Street and have a bird's eye view of all the violence that goes on at night. They said they barely left their apartment this summer out of fear, but now they feel safe seeing police around.
"Our window faces East Carson," Mangano said. "So, we see cops up and down the street. We see people getting arrested and pulled over."
"There's a lot of police action," Emmolo said. "Lots of police just doing laps up and down the street and walk around and I feel like that kind of keeps people in line."
Police initially said the patrols would last until the end of summer. It is not clear if that will change.