Richard Harbus for New York Daily News
Yamil Martinez, owner of Uptown Social, a restaurant/sports bar on Dyckman St. in Washington Heights
A popular Washington Heights watering hole that was temporarily shut down in December for serving minors will reopen Friday.
Uptown Social owner Yamil Martinez told The News he got back the keys to the trendy restaurant and sports bar on Dyckman St. near Vermilyea Ave.
Martinez said he had to pony up $ 10,000 in fines after police said employees there sold alcohol to under-aged auxiliary officers on three occasions and continued to sell booze after hours.
Martinez continued to insist the charges were baloney and said that he was set up.
“I was targeted by them,” Martinez said. “If I could compare it to stop-and-frisk . . . I think I was a target.”
RELATED: UPTOWN SOCIAL BUSTED, SHUTTERED
The police sent under-aged officers to his establishment “10 times a week,” he said.
Residents — who filed about 200 noise complaints since the bar opened last April — said the place operated more like a nightclub, but Martinez disputed that as well.
“I am a restaurant and sports bar . . . a family restaurant,” he added. “I am not a club at all.”
Martinez said he will scale back the hours of operation during the week and will close at 2 a.m., instead of 4 a.m., on Mondays through Thursdays.
Security will also be beefed up, and to address community concerns Martinez removed the speakers.
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