Bd. 1 Cheers Club Shutdown
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

Club Phenomenon, on 30th Ave. in Woodside, remains closed and police are confident it will not reopen.

By one estimate, there are 263 nightclubs and bars within the 114th Precinct. But Precinct Commander Inspector Brian McCarthy is hopeful there will be one less in the New Year.

Club Phenomenon, on 30th Ave. in Woodside, remains closed and police are confident it will not reopen.

“I’m optimistic Club Phenomenon will not be in business much longer,” McCarthy said at the December 19 meeting of Community Board 1.

McCarthy said a court hearing December 21 should determine the club’s ultimate fate. A notice of termination served on the nine-year old club by its landlord has ordered Club Phenomenon to leave the building by January 2, according to a report in the December 16 edition of Newsday.

“There’s been a lot of pressure on Club Phenomenon,”said McCarthy.

In the last year, numerous arrests for prostitution, drug sales and gun possession have been made at Club Phenomenon by police, according to a report in the December 16 New York Times. In addition, eight shootings have occurred either inside or around the club according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, including one resulting in the death of a 22-year old Woodside resident on October 1.

The closing of Club Phenomenon comes one month after Sean Bell was shot to death by police after leaving Club Kalua, another trouble spot in Queens that had previously been closed, albeit temporarily, for prostitution and drug transactions.

The five New York Police Department undercover officers involved in the November 25 incident that resulted in 50 shots fired by police at Bell and two friends on the day he was to be married were part of a police initiative, the Club Enforcement Initiative, that was formed to investigate clubs with a history of problems.

The Club Enforcement Unit, comprised of Manhattan vice squad officers and the citywide narcotics detail, was formed last August in the aftermath of two well publicized homicides of underage females who began their last nights in clubs drinking.

A crackdown on clubs in Manhattan between 26th St. and 29th St. from Eighth to 12th Aves. on the West Side resulted in 54 felony arrests, 74 misdemeanor arrests and 32 Criminal Court summonses issued to more than 100 clubs, according to a December 3 Daily News report. Since then, the Club Enforcement Initiative branched out to problem spots in other boroughs such as Club Kalua in Jamaica.

Under another program, the Social Club Enforcement Initiative, locations such as Club Phenomenon within a particular command are targeted for inspections based on past history, community complaints and observations by precinct personnel assigned in the 114th Precinct to the Social Club Task Force, including the State Liquor Authority (SLA), the New York Fire Department (NYFD), the Mayor’s Office and the City Department of Consumer Affairs.

At the December meeting, Community Board 1 unanimously voted to send a letter to the State Liquor Authority in opposition to a new liquor license for Tropical Sensation, at 38-11 31st St. Board Member George Stamatiades said the club has been serving liquor without a license and that the Dutch Kills Civic Association did not support its application.