Ridge strip club cover up?

Owner insistes "Club Shadow" not a topless joint
By Matthew Lysiak
for The Brooklyn Papers
December 2, 2006
Nude dancers? Now where’d’ya get
that idea?
Days after a sign featuring the silhouette
of a curvy woman and the words
“exotic dancers” appeared on a windowless
Fourth Avenue bar, the new owner
assured his neighbors that his “Club
Shadows” was strictly a Vegas-style
dance club, not a topless joint.
“Maybe we conveyed the wrong message,”
Manager Joseph Domovsky said.
“That is why we are trying to correct this
right away. I love Bay Ridge. Club
Shadows will provide a high-class, high
fashion environment.
“I promise that everyone in my club
will keep their clothes on,” he added.
The controversy began when the sign
appeared on the now-vacated Reagle
Beagle, a bar between 90th and 91st
streets, advertising the grand opening of
Club Shadows on Nov. 30.
Calls to the local community board
started almost immediately, said CB10
District Manager Josephine Beckmann.
The “exotic dancers” sign wasn’t the
only cause for alarm. An invitation to the
club that had been posted on MySpace
also promised “exotic entertainment all
night long,” and that “hot girls are free
all night long!!!”
Community leaders promised to keep
Club Shadows’ doors closed — even before
the jiggle joint opened. But Domovsky
said that his critics have him all
wrong.
“This is going to be the best club in
Brooklyn,” he said. “I think people saw
‘exotic’ and thought ‘erotic.’ Nothing
erotic is going on here. When we say
‘exotic,’ we mean Vegas-quality exotic
costumes.”
Beckmann claims Domovsky doesn’t
have a liquor license, but he says he
does.
“Ownership is staying the same,” he
said, “Club Shadows is only a management
company and there would be no
reason for the new owner to reapply for
a license he already has.”
As for the boarded up windows, Domovsky
has an explanation for that too.
“Under the previous management, the
neighborhood had two complaints: rowdiness
and noise.” Domovsky said. “We
hired extra security and soundproofed
the windows to address these concerns.”
The manager’s explanation didn’t impress
City Councilman Vince Gentile
(D-Bay Ridge).
“Whether you change the R to an X is
of little consequence,” Gentile said. “If it
looks like a strip club, and acts like a
strip club, it is probably a strip club.”
Gentile added that Domovsky was
evasive when questioned by his staff and
that “alarm bells went off when specifics
of the club appeared shadowy.”
He added, “I plan on having state
liquor authority enforcement officers at
the opening, and if he doesn’t have the
proper credentials, my office will request
that they shut the club down.”
The club was set to open on Thursday,
after this paper went to press. See next
week’s Bay Ridge Paper for full coverage,
whether the dancers have it or not.