Shut it down.
Community leaders in Long Island City gathered in front of Club Allure Thursday morning to ask the State Liquor Authority (SLA) to revoke the club’s liquor license and close its doors for good.
The club has been the site of several violent incidents in the last two years, including a shooting that occurred outside the 33-02 Queens Blvd. location leaving four people wounded in 2014.
There have been 20 complaint reports filed against the club, 15 arrests of patrons for crimes including driving while intoxicated, possession of a firearm and marijuana, four felony assaults involving people being shot, 48 criminal court summonses issued and 127 moving violations in less than two years.
Also on Dec. 6, police arrested three men and confiscated a firearm from one of them after he threatened to kill the club’s bouncer. An officer was injured while trying to arrest the patron, according to police.
“These numbers should be troubling to every single person, including the people who run, operate and own this club,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said. “They should be ashamed of those numbers.”
Pat O’Brien, chairman for Community Board 2, said his board has met with the owner of the club a half a dozen times in the last two years and has constantly heard “statements of improvements and security measures and other things that are done to avoid these issues.” But O’Brien and the board members are tired of hearing these promises.
“In the last couple of these meetings the sentiment from us is, ‘look, what you’re doing is not working,'” O’Brien said. “The proof is in the pudding and the pudding is more than a little problematic.”
Capt. John Travaglia, commanding officer of the 108th Precinct, said the club is a drain of police resources.
“As far as Club Allure is concerned, it frequently drains our resources at closing time requiring police personnel to be present so that there is no escalation of violence,” he said.
The State Liquor Authority will have to review these incidents to determine whether the agency should revoke their liquor license and according to Travaglia, the NYPD’s legal bureau would handle the formal process of shutting the club down for good.
The Courier reached out to Club Allure for comment and is awaiting response.
