Last call for Club Shadows?

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

This may be the last dance for Club Shadows.

On Aug. 22, the embattled Fourth Avenue nightclub’s plea offer was rejected by the State Liquor Authority, which came back with an offer of its own — give up your liquor license or go to trial.

Shadows had offered the authority $10,000 and a 15-day suspension of its liquor license to settle charges dating back to Nov. 30, 2006— which included a serious count of not having a proper liquor license.

But “the plea offer was not enough to satisfy the board,” said Liquor Authority spokesman Bill Crowley.

The latest setback for the controversial club comes after two brawls — one on June 5 and another on Aug. 10, cops said — and both incidents hurt the bar’s chance of retaining its liquor license.

“Obviously, there are serious questions about whether Shadows can responsibly hold this license,” Crowley said. “Anytime the police have to be called and there is violence, the board takes it very seriously.”

The latest charges — stemming from the violent incidents — are separate matters, which mean two more trials, Crowley said.

Club Shadows, which is between 90th and 91st streets, got on the community radar screen last November, when a sign featuring the silhouette of a curvy woman was installed. The sign also promised “exotic dancers” at the Nov. 30 opening.

The strippers never materialized. In fact, inside Club Shadows, there isn’t a hint of the controversy that local officials feared. When a Brooklyn Paper reporter visited this week, he found a club scene not too different than others in New York.

The lighting was dark and the drinks pricey, but the business was clean and the crowd of twentysomethings were well-controlled by two large security guards who made their presence obvious.

Aside from people smoking in the bathroom (a common club nuisance), there were no noticeable problems — and no naked woman.

That’s a far cry from what local officials expected when Councilman Vince Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) brought SLA inspectors to the Club Shadows opening, and the agency hit the establishment with the four original violations.

Shadows lawyer William Spanakos could not be reached for comment.