VIDEO: New Club Penthouse, Complete with Stripper Poles, Opens on Historic East Side
GoLocalProv News Team
VIDEO: New Club Penthouse, Complete with Stripper Poles, Opens on Historic East Side
WARNING - VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT MATERIAL It was posted to social media accounts of The Penthouse.
The new club is located close to one of Providence’s top Italian restaurants, Bacaro, right next to upscale realtor Lila Delman, and literally across the street from the new innovation center I-195 corridor.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe historic building is owned by a company controlled by Andrew Mitrelis. He and his family also own Cafe Paragon, Andreas, and the now-closed Mile and a Quarter.
In 2015, the Rhode Island Department of Labor fined the restaurants $135,000 for failure to make payment to workers.
The building houses both the newly opened "Penthouse RI" and the now-closed Mile and a Quarter — the Facebook page of the restaurant claims it will re-open in the near future.
At an October 5 meeting of the Providence Board of Licenses, the following members voted to approve a DJ license for the Penthouse for 17 nights in October - Charles Newton, Dylan Conley, Juan M. Pichardo, Delia Rodriguez-Masjoan, and Luis Peralta.
Location Formerly The Loft
The Penthouse replaces the controversial club The Loft, which was linked to a February 2016 shooting. Two men were shot and one was hospitalized after an incident outside the club, according to Providence Police. The shooting did not take place in The Loft.
Providence Clubs and Reports of Crime and Violence - 2016
August 20
Van Gogh Nightclub
The Providence Board of Licenses voted on Saturday at an emergency hearing to shutter the Harris Avenue establishment for 72 hours, after a man was taken to the hospital with stab wounds following a fight in the vicinity of the club in the early hours of Saturday morning.
"When folks started calling me, I thought they were reaching out about Tel Aviv -- I had no idea yet another incident had occurred," said Providence Board of Licenses member Johanna Harris, of hearing from people on what she thought was the separate incident that occurred at another Providence club just the night before (see next slide).
August 19
Tel-Aviv
The South Water Street establishment was raided by Providence Police on Friday night, following a weeks-long narcotics investigation.
WPRI.com reported that two men were arrested - Theo Spyridis, 39, the bar’s manager, and Antonio Reverdes, 47, a customer -- and according to police, with a "good amount of cocaine and significant amount of cash."
Tel Aviv will now go before the city’s Board of Licenses at an upcoming meeting.
August 15
Aqua
Providence’s Board of Licenses ordered Aqua Hookah Lounge to temporarily close following a violent incident earlier in August - marking the second instance of an issue violence at the establishment.
Providence police told WPRI.com a passing officer heard a gunshot and saw people running from the establishment on Broad Street.
Police said a bullet grazed a man in his arm, but the wound was not serious. The Board decided to close the club for 72 hours -- and revisit the issue.
August 8
Flow
The police report for the August 8 incident at FLOW nightclub at Cranston Street and Potters Avenue -- that included four stabbing victims -- described victims as saying they were leaving the club at the time the altercation took place.
The club was closed for three days, and at the August 16 Board of Licenses' continuation of the show-cause hearing, the club entered into a deal with the City that would include police detail during a 45 day review period -- but that the stabbings would not go on Flow's record.
"The biggest travesty is they took a witness who'd been subpoenaed -- and appeared -- and they released him," said Jewelry District Association President Sharon Steele, who attends nearly all Board of License hearings. "Then the city and the club came together on a "recommendation" out in the hall. No witness, no detective testimony, and [the city] allowed them to say it was purely a disturbance of the public but it wasn't a stabbing at the club."
June 21
Vault Nightclub
The Providence Board of Licenses voted on July 21 to close The Vault nightclub on Federal Hill for an additional five days following a shooting outside the club - after a bouncer admitted to lying to police about the shooter having been inside, saying he was told by club management to lie.
The embroiled Providence hotspot, which is in a building formerly co-owned by Congressman David Cicilline and now solely owned by his brother John, was slated to have a ruling made ten days following a July 15 meeting, but the city unexpectedly moved it up earlier.
On Thursday, the Board of Licenses voted to shut Vault for five days, from July 27 to 31, reduce the weekend closing time from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. for 60 days -- and required the club to increase security, and pay up $2000 fine.
