BOOZE IS A ‘SIN’
CLUB LOSES LIQUOR LICENSE, BUT STILL SERVES
IT WAS SUPPOSED to be last call for alcohol at one of the city’s most problem-plagued jiggle joints.
The state snatched away the booze license of the Bronx strip club Sin City because the name of the man running the business and profiting from it was not on the liquor license, the Daily News has learned.
But the troubled topless bar defied the ruling Thursday night — serving up shots, beers and cocktails to about three dozen paying customers.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” a manager who refused to identify himself told a reporter.
Scantily clad bartenders gyrated behind the club’s two bars as they made mixed drinks and danced to booming music. A dancer wearing even less clothing performed on a nearby stage.
After paying a $20 cover charge, a News reporter had no problem ordering a Guinness.
The move to bar the spot from selling booze comes after The News published an investigation in February on the champagne-and-glittersoaked club on Park Ave. near E. 138th St. in Mott Haven.
It detailed past shootings, stabbings, drug sales, gang activity, fights, allegations of prostitution and sexual harassment lawsuits at the club.
The News reported that Sin City’s self-described “Bossman” Konstantine (Gus) Drakopoulos has been breaking State Liquor Authority rules for years by running it even though his mother’s name is on the liquor license — a shady practice known in legal terms as availing.
Though Drakopoulos’ mother’s name, Stravroula Drakopoulos, is on the license, she is so wracked with health problems and depression that she has no role in the business, SLA officials said.
Drakopoulos isn’t allowed to be on the license because he was convicted of securities fraud in Brooklyn Federal Court in 2002 for illegally trading stock based on a tip about a merger involving a frozen turkey
processing company.
“I think from the beginning this was a sham,” SLA Chairman Vincent Bradley said at a hearing Wednesday. “My problem is this guy was running this business 100%. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”
Board member Greeley Ford noted that a range of documents including loan guarantees, IRS documents and records filed with the state all identify Drakopoulos as an owner or chief executive officer.
“There is tremendous documentation that your client is availing himself of this license,” Ford said.
Drakopoulos’ lawyer Martin Mehler insisted Drakopoulos is merely the manager.
“He is not the owner and has never been the owner,” Mehler said during the hearing.
“There’s enough evidence here to show he’s a partner and we did not know about it,” Ford shot back.
The SLA had been investigating the club for code violations since last summer when nine strippers and bouncers were busted for blatantly dealing drugs out of the club.
One of the men arrested in the drug takedown was an employee who previously served 10 years in prison for manslaughter, The News reported.
The SLA also cited code violations as another reason for the license revocation, saying the club has drawn police attention because of violent incidents.
“Sin City has long been a nuisance to our borough, and today’s news is incredibly welcome,” Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz said. “For years, this establishment has made for a poor corporate citizen in the Bronx and has attracted complaints on numerous issues.”
Ford said that from June 2015 through June 2016, there had been 143 calls to 911 and 103 quality-of-life summonses involving the club. The SLA tied 154 criminal complaints filed from 2014 through 2016 to the club.
From Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, 2017, cops responded to 137 calls to the club for incidents ranging from possible crimes to fights to injured people, The News previously reported.
The SLA investigation found that the club had a policy not to report simple assaults. In a 2015, bouncers were assaulted, but refused to cooperate when cops arrived.
The NYPD filed a nuisance abatement case against the club after the drug arrests to close it, but then settled for a $100,000 fine, and the club never had to shut down.
Lawyers for the club are expected to request a stay while they file a lawsuit to lift the revocation of the liquor license.
“The SLA’s decision is an outrage,” said Harvey Slovis, another Drakopoulos lawyer. “I’m sure that the appellate division will overturn that decision.”