9
July 17 - July 30, 2013
First Precinct is trying to close down troubled club Continued from page 1
on my foot’ and bashed her in the face with a bottle,” her mother, Jawan Finely, recalled at the First Precinct police station a week later. At the time of the incident, Jawan — an attorney with a firm in Flushing — was in Georgia with her husband. Their return to New York was delayed because he had gotten into a motorcycle accident. “They took her downstairs, cleaned the blood off her — there was blood all over her dress,” Jawan said. “Security found her friend, they put [Raquel] in a cab and sent her home. They tried to cover it up. Someone was hit with a [bottle of] Magnum Patrón and you don’t call the hospital?” she asked. When her daughter called to tell her what had happened, Jawan was devastated. She told her to go immediately to a hospital, and was outraged that the club had not called an ambulance for her daughter or called the police to make a report. It turned out that Raquel had multiple fractures to her face and a split lip. After receiving initial emergency treatment at Jamaica Hospital, she later had to undergo plastic surgery to correct fractures to her eye socket, her mother said. She said Raquel was so excited to do promotion work for the club, which frequently has high-profile stars like Jamie Foxx. Now, her mother says, she wishes her daughter had made a few phone calls to check out the club’s safety records beforehand. W.i.P. (which stands for “Work in Progress”) has a record for disturbances as high-profile as the stars who patronize it. The nightspot’s most infamous incident was a bottle-throwing brawl between singer Chris Brown and the entourage of the rapper Drake, which injured several clubgoers, including
let’s do something together at trinity wall street
All Are Welcome All events are free, unless noted. 212.602.0800
trinitywallstreet.org
TRINITY ChURCh Broadway at Wall Street 74 TRINITY PlACe is located in the office building behind Trinity Church
sT. PAUl’s ChAPel Broadway and Fulton Street ChARlOTTe’s PlACe 107 Greenwich Street btwn Rector & Carlisle Streets The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee, Vicar
N.B.A. player Tony Parker, who suffered a scratched cornea. The fight prompted the State Liquor Authority to suspend the liquor license of the venues, at Varick and Vandam Sts., for several weeks, along with slapping them with a hefty fine. The nightclubs were allowed to reopen and operate conditionally while the S.L.A. conducted its hearings. Last month, just days after the attack on Raquel Finley, an appellate court overturned the liquor license ban for W.i.P., according to a report by the New York Post, ruling that charges of drug dealing and violence could not be backed up by sufficient evidence. The June 18 ruling also stated that the club could not have anticipated the fights, and noted new security measures put in place by club owner Barry Mullineux. Those precau-
community
ThURsDAY, JUlY 18 & 25, 10:30am12pm Fellowship Gathering: Job Seekers’ Group Join others seeking to improve and effectively market their job skills. 74 Trinity Pl, 3rd Fl, Room 2 ThURsDAY, JUlY 18 & 25, 6:30pm Fellowship Gathering: Summer Dance Aerobics Stay cool and feel great as you dance away the stress of the day in this low-impact dance aerobics class. 74 Trinity Pl, 2nd Fl, Parlor FRIDAY, JUlY 19, 6-7:30pm Family Friday Pizza and Movie Night Relax with your kids and meet other downtown families for free pizza, children’s movies, and community. Charlotte’s Place sATURDAY, JUlY 20 & 27, 10am-1pm Mosaic Art Project: Workshop Help design a large-scale mosaic for Charlotte’s Place. Facilitated by public artist Jackie Chang. Charlotte’s Place FRIDAY, JUlY 26, 6pm Family Friday Yoga and Veggie Night Practice with your children in this familyfocused yoga class! Charlotte’s Place
education
sUNDAY, JUlY 21 & 28, 10am The Gospel, Times, Journal, and You A discussion group that reads the editorial pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the assigned gospel for the day. 74 Trinity Pl, 2nd Fl
worship
sUNDAY, JUlY 21 & 28, 10am Community Bible Study Whether you’re a Bible scholar, opening the book for the first time, or anywhere in between, your voice is welcome. 74 Trinity Pl, 2nd Fl
MONDAY—FRIDAY, 12:05pm Trinity Church · Holy Eucharist
sUNDAY, 8am & 10am St. Paul’s Chapel · Holy Eucharist sUNDAY, 9am & 11:15am Trinity Church · Preaching, music, and Eucharist · Sunday school and child care available
MONDAY—FRIDAY, 5:15pm All Saints’ Chapel, in Trinity Church Evening Prayer Watch online webcast
sUNDAY, JUlY 21 & 28, 10am Summer Sunday School: A Garden Project An interactive, Scripture-based instructional program where children and youth make sustainable gardens inside and outside while learning skills to be good stewards of God’s creation. Trinity Churchyard, North side
Leo Sorel
an Episcopal parish in the city of New York
Downtown Express photo by Kaitlyn Meade
Greenhouse, on the corner of Varick and Vandam Sts.
tions included bag checks and switching from glasses and bottles to plastic cups. The safety precautions, however, have not prevented violence in recent months. In March, police arrested a woman who hit another bar patron over the head with an ice-filled bucket during a verbal argument. The victim sustained lacerations to her head and face. In another incident, a 27-year-old man was brutally beaten on the street outside of the club as he left at closing time last month, and woke up in the hospital with the side of his skull crushed. In addition, the Downtown Express has reported five incidents of grand larceny at W.i.P. and Greenhouse in the last four months: on March 6, April 13, April 20, May 11 and June 15. The New York Police Department has frequently had to reprimand the club, said George Liropoulos, First Precinct community affairs officer. “We’re trying to close them down, I guess. That’s the only one who’s been a big problem for us,” he said. “They’re the only club we’ve got down here.” “It was a trouble spot. They shouldn’t be in business,” said Bob Gormley, Community Board 2 district manager, in a phone interview with Downtown Express. The clubs have come before C.B. 2 multiple times. The last time they came before the board was in October 2011, addressing community concerns over Greenhouse. Representatives of the club agreed to a number of stipulations, including a database of banned customers and hiring extra security. “We want them to adhere to the stipulations and be good neighbors,” said Gormley during a follow-up call. “It’s not helpful to have a club that the First Precinct has to visit with some regularity.” Representatives of W.i.P. declined to comment on the record for this story.