Well, it seems the DOH's crackdown on clubs that allow smoking is more than just a routine ticketing blitz. Five nightclubs are scheduled to appear today before a city tribunal that will attempt to take away their food and beverage permits as punishment for ignoring the smoking ban. Department lawyer Thomal Merrill told the Daily News "We think we have a good case. I think we will shut them down."
These clubs—The Box, M2 Ultra Lounge, The Imperial, Southside Night Club and Lit Lounge—were subjects of a sting investigation that found plenty of patrons lighting up inside. M2 Ultra Lounge was even found to have bathroom attendants selling loose cigarettes for $2. Of course, club owners are outraged and claim they have no control. The News says Joey Morrissey, owner of M2 Ultra Lounge, "has tried everything to stop it except take away cigarettes or toss out offenders." What more do you expect him to do—he's only the owner. Morrisey claims that kicking out smokers would just lead to fights. And besides, "you're not going to find someone in a club this big." It's true, M2 is like the Tora Bora of nightclubs.
But even an iron-clad defense like "it's too hard" will probably not work when there is such hard proof of smoking going on. Southside Night Club, M2 Ultra Lounge, and Lit Lounge all have pictures of numerous clubgoers with cigarettes in hand on their websites, some from as recently as December 31st, 2009. This is the largest crackdown on the smoking ban since it began in 2003, when bars could be fined up to $2,000.
