FIGHT CLUB CLOSED
South Rio shut down for 42 days over repeated brawls >>
TRENTON » The party is over for now at South Rio.
City council voted Monday to close the popular bar and restaurant at 120 S. Warren St. for 42 days from April 10 until May 21 due to repeated brawls at the establishment.
Trenton Clerk Dwayne Harris said Thursday that the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) offenses stemmed from South Rio creating a nuisance that requires police intervention and allowing brawls to occur on Sept. 1, Sept. 2 and Oct. 1.
“Upon their reopening, they are required to have three licensed armed security officers on their premises on Friday, Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 9 p.m. and closing,” the clerk said of the settlement agreement reached with the owner.
But South Rio’s problems may be far from over.
Last month, The Trentonian reported on numerous fights that occurred inside the club that were carried out into the streets on March 17. Videos of the brawls were posted to YouTube and they showed two city cops attempting to break up the mayhem, despite some unruly people continuing to throw punches and kicks at the pile.
The city clerk said other charges are “pending,” but they have yet to be presented to council.
“They’re going to get hit hard for the next set of charges,” South Ward Councilman George Muschal said Thursday. “It was out of control. We had two cops that showed up out there for a crowd of about 200. Just by looking at the videos, obviously, we couldn’t handle the problem that was out there. So before somebody gets hurt seriously, council acted accordingly and they took the appropriate measures to shut them down and hopefully it sends a message to them that council is not playing with ‘em.”
Muschal said the South Rio ruckus highlighted a bigger problem that Trenton’s understaffed police department faces. The South Ward councilman, who is seeking re-election, recently opposed a proposed entertainment district downtown due to safety concerns. That measure failed last month.
“This only goes to show you that everybody wants an entertainment area and we had no police actually to protect the people who were out there,” the councilman said. “This all has to be worked out before people want an entertainment area that we have the proper police that can manage problems when they occur.”
The issues at South Rio also prompted Councilman Duncan Harrison, who is running for mayor, to cancel an event at the club. Harrison was scheduled to host a voter registration shindig at South Rio on March 29.
“I had heard that they had problems in the past, which I thought they had corrected,” Harrison said Thursday explaining his decision to schedule the event at the troubled bar. “We wanted to support local business and we want to support businesses downtown. If I would have known beforehand that they were having the multitude of problems that they were having, we probably would have postponed the event or not even have had the event there until they were able to correct what needs to be corrected.”
Harrison’s campaign spokesman Mark Matzen provided further justification as to why South Rio was selected.
“For us and the reason we did that, a big part of what Duncan has been doing as a councilman and even before he was a councilman is trying to get more young folks engaged in the civic process of the city,” Matzen said. “The reason actually we went there was that’s a big venue for that audience. That’s where a lot of younger Trentonians hang out.”
South Rio moved into the old Maxine’s in June 2015. At the time, owner Henry Mata presented the place as a restaurant, though, it has quickly turned into a nightclub.
“We’re going to open a nice place where you feel good to eat,” Mata told The Trentonian during the establishment’s opening. “I see the need for a place where they can come and enjoy a beautiful meal, a beautiful lunch for a good price.”
The building is owned by real estate mogul George Zoffinger, who kicked out beloved city restaurant The Big Easy in order to transform the place into a nightclub with a liquor license.