South Boston bar, site of a fatality, is allowed to reopen
A South Boston bar where a Revere man was stabbed to death last month will reopen after city officials reinstated its license, deciding yesterday that its employees responded appropriately to the brawl.
The bar's owner, Robert Mahar, said he plans to reopen The 6 House tomorrow.
The Boston Licensing Board suspended the pub's license June 20, three days after Adam Rich, 26, was killed after a fight among patrons inside the bar. Bernard Piscopo, 38, of Dorchester was charged last month with murder and ordered held without bail until a hearing July 18.
Based on employee and police testimony at a hearing Tuesday, the Licensing Board concluded there was no legal basis to uphold the suspension or revoke the license, said chairman Daniel F. Pokaski.
"They did everything they were supposed to do," Pokaski said in a telephone interview. "All of a sudden, a fight started. And immediately the bartender called the police. This is before the knife even came out."
Immediately after the stabbing, some local officials called for a probe of the bar's credentials.
But state Representative Brian P. Wallace said yesterday that he had acted prematurely. After hearing testimony and reviewing the bar's record, Wallace said, he believed that the establishment had nothing to do with the slaying.
"You hate to see people die, but there was a lot more to the story," he said.
The bar was a hangout for fugitive mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. The Licensing Board issued several violations to its past owner when it was called Triple O's, Pokaski said.
But since Mahar, who also drives a Globe delivery truck, took over three years ago, the bar had only been issued a warning for an altercation between patrons before the recent suspension.
"If Whitey Bulger walked in this place today, 90 percent of the people wouldn't even know him," said Wallace, a lifelong resident of South Boston. "We're sick of talking about the past. Let's talk about the future of this place."
Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis, who also asked for a review of the bar, respects the Licensing Board's decision, said spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.
"That being said, the Police Department will continue to monitor activity at The 6 House to ensure that they're in compliance with all laws," she added.
Pokaski is also asking police to watch the area between 1 and 2 a.m. for six months to see how many patrons are flooding from other bars to locations with later closing times.
Mahar also paid $600 last month in fines issued by the state Department of Industrial Accidents for operating without a workers' compensation policy, which he now has in place, said Linnea Walsh, a spokeswoman.
