The East Hampton art dealer busted for serving wine at her posh gallery has found an unlikely ally just one ritzy ZIP code away – the cops in Southampton.
Southampton Police Sgt. Darren Gagnon said yesterday that his East Hampton counterparts went way overboard when they hauled off 67-year-old Ruth Kalb in handcuffs Saturday night because she was serving her 300 well-heeled guests liquor at the opening of a photo exhibit.
“It’s like serving alcohol in your house – no big deal,” Gagnon said. “I can’t believe they [East Hampton cops] did that. That’s crazy.”
And a defiant Kalb, who cops say was cuffed only because she flipped out, vowed to do it again.
“It’s going to take a lot more than that for me to stop doing what I’m doing,” she said from her Vered Gallery, which was visited by a stream of well-wishers and curious onlookers. “I’m going to continue to have art shows the way I want to have them. And if they have to arrest me again, then we’ll see what happens.”
Her lawyer, Mark Heller, said he was going to demand that Suffolk County drop the charges and issue her a written apology.
But East Hampton police stuck to their guns.
Village Police Capt. Mike Tracy said the inspection was routine until Kalb got out of hand.
“She chose to refuse to comply, and the alcohol was confiscated,” Tracy told The Post. “That night was not unusual. The difference is she refused to comply.”
Kalb was fingerprinted and given a summons for “selling liquor without a permit” during the soiree.
Tracy said that ever since a seminar given by the State Liquor Authority earlier this year, his force regularly has two bicycle cops patrolling the tony town for events at commercial venues that feature alcohol.
When those two bike cops first approached Kalb’s gallery, they were chased away, he said.
State Liquor Authority spokesman Bill Crowley said that when it comes to commercial establishments, such as art galleries, it doesn’t matter whether they are selling the booze or giving it away, they still need a permit.
He said the agency wasn’t behind the crackdown, but noted a one-day beer-and-wine permit is only $31 and can be applied for as little as 15 days in advance.