The owner of the Voodoo Lounge was expected to temporarily close…
By Kathianne Boniello
Three men were stabbed and another man was arrested at the Voodoo Lounge in Bayside early Saturday morning after the victims reportedly made racial remarks about the suspect, police said.
The owner of the Voodoo Lounge was expected to temporarily close the club and was in the process of surrendering the lease Tuesday, said Community Affairs Officer Anthony Lombardi of the 111th Precinct. Lombardi said the club would probably not be open this weekend as a result.
The stabbing, which has been classified as a possible bias incident by police, was the second on Bell Boulevard in less than two months after a black man was attacked by a group of whites outside the Byzantio Bar and Grill in February.
Juaquin Ramirez, 20, whose address was not released, was arrested and charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon after he allegedly stabbed three other men who were taunting him with racial remarks, said Community Affairs Officer Santo Elardo of the 111th Police Precinct.
The victims, 20, 25, and 30 years old, were taken to North Shore Hospital in stable condition with stab wounds in the arms and back.
A woman who identified herself as the owner and manager of the Voodoo Lounge but would not give her name would not comment on this past weekend’s stabbing and did not return calls for further comment by presstime Tuesday.
The incident was the second time police have made an arrest at the Voodoo Lounge at 47-29 Bell Blvd. since February. Last month a manager at the club was arrested for allegedly allowing a minor at the club’s bar. Police did not identify the manager who was arrested.
Mandingo Tshaka, president of the Bayside Clear-Springs Council, said the alleged bias remarks the white victims supposedly made toward their attacker were uncalled for.
“How dare they tell anyone that?” Tshaka said. “They had no business approaching that young man in that way.”
Tshaka, whose southern Bayside civic includes the area where the Voodoo Lounge is located, said he had not heard a lot of complaints about the club.
Elardo confirmed that police at the 111th Precinct, which includes Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Hollis Hills and parts of Auburndale and Flushing, had been investigating the Voodoo Lounge. He would not elaborate further on the investigation.
In February two Whitestone men were arrested for allegedly beating a black man around the face and head outside the Byzantio Bar and Grill at 45-30 Bell Blvd. with a gun and directing racial remarks at him. During the attack the suspects stole about $87 from the victim as well as his gold chain, Elardo said.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
