SOPRANOS’ ‘BADA BING’ GOES BUH-BYE:
Famed ‘Sopranos’ jiggle joint is shuttered
THE NEW JERSEY strip club that was the model for the Bada Bing hangout in HBO’s hit show “The Sopranos” served its last drink.
Satin Dolls in Lodi, N.J., was shuttered Sunday under a court order after New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino and the Division of Alcohol Beverage Control moved against the club.
Actors playing Garden State mobsters regularly filmed at the Route 17 jiggle joint, and memorials to James Gandolfini — who played Tony Soprano — were erected there after the star’s untimely death in 2013.
A.J.’s Gentleman Club, which has the same owners, was also shut down.
Both clubs have to either sell or transfer their liquor licenses by Jan. 3, Porrino said.
Anthony Cardinalle, a convicted racketeer from Saddle River, N.J., is barred from having a liquor license.
But authorities alleged he continued to run the clubs despite that. They also allege that a large amount of cash flowing in and out of the business was not accounted for.
Other members of the Cardinalle family tried to retain ownership of the licenses and continued to operate the businesses, Porrino alleged.
On Nov. 20, alcohol division Director David Rible signed the order barring Cardinalle’s involvement with the club.
“The Cardinalles may have wanted to keep the business in the family, but that’s not how it works. Their continued flouting of Alcoholic Beverage Control laws cannot and will not be tolerated,” Porrino said in a statement.
“Illegal activity was glorified at the ‘Bada Bing’ in the fictional world of Tony Soprano, but it has no place in modern-day New Jersey. It’s time to shut it down.”
In May, the division charged the club with prostitution and lewd activity.
A 2011 consent order for Cardinalle’s company, Route 17 Entertainment, said Luceen Cardinalle, who was listed as the owner, had to turn over the licenses to her daughter, Loren.
The Cardinalles also had to pay $1.25 million in penalties.
“The Cardinalles, quite simply, have not played by the rules despite many opportunities to correct their behavior, and it’s time to get them out of the alcohol business once and for all,” Rible said.
In 1995, Anthony Cardinalle pleaded guilty to federal income tax evasion for not reporting cash payments from “gentleman’s clubs” in which he held undisclosed interests.
In 2013, he was indicted by the feds for involvement in a waste-disposal company controlled by the Genovese crime family.
He pleaded guilty in December 2013 to racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit extortion. He spent 30 days in jail and was ordered to pay a fine and restitution.
Lodi police claim that Anthony Cardinalle continued to be the contact person for the club.
When the cops came to the club on a burglary report, for instance, he was the club’s representative.