Shooting prompts crackdown on lounge

After an altercation at Raine Lounge ended with a bullet lodged in a 24-year-old patron’s stomach on March 28, the Kingsbridge nightclub is fighting for its own life.

The New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) is considering revoking the 170 W. 233rd St. location’s liquor license.

The authority might end up levying a fine on the club instead of cutting off the booze. But a lawyer for SLA said the body will take into account recommendations from Community Board (CB) 8, whose members have harshly criticized the Raine Lounge so far.

“They are a cocktail lounge with a checkered history of violence,” CB 8 Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Arlene Feldmeier said at a May 11 meeting following a move from the NYPD to shut the club down on weekends.

The NYPD’s legal bureau ordered the lounge to shut down on weekends starting on April 30. In addition to the March 28 shooting, from which the victim has recovered, the police said grounds for the shutdown included an assault in front of the club on March 2, 2014; a shooting in front of the club on May 12, 2014; and ongoing concerns about the use of unlicensed security personnel at the club.

After Raine Lounge paid a $4,000 fine to settle the nuisance abatement case from the NYPD, the authorities let the club reopen on weekends the following Tuesday, May 5. It now must close by 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

“We’ve had more than 10 jobs there,” said Community Affairs Officer Mindy Ramos of the 50th Precinct, including the shootings and various noise complaints. She added that the precinct did not believe there was any ambiguity whether last year’s shooting was also connected to patrons at Raine Lounge.

A lawyer for lounge proprietors Andres and Deena Diaz called the NYPD’s suit “shocking.”

“We’re not denying one isolated shooting in March,” said Bianka Perez. “But we were shocked when they announced these charges.”

“I guess you could call it a probationary period,” Ms. Perez said of the new 3 a.m. curfew, which is scheduled to remain in effect until Sunday, Nov. 15, according to court documents.