Lawyer Ran Strip Club-Brothel in Midtown

At the Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street, police say customers could indulge not just in hot lap dances but some more intimate fun by the hour in cubicles, private bedrooms or even "off-premises." And what's more, the joint was run by a group of people, including one who started a voter reform advocacy group after the 2000 election and a private police force cop.

Undercover cops posing as men having a bachelor party were told, per the Daily News, "they could have a private room - with a bed - for $250 an hour, plus whatever they spent on the women." The club also had a "house dealer of cocaine" and, if you tipped, alcohol (otherwise it was BYOB). Also, there were live sex shows and sex toys abound--all for a $50 cover and $20 membership fee, on top of whatever else one would spend. The money was apparently laundered through lawyer Louis Posner's Voter March, and money found in Posner's and his wife's bank accounts and safe deposit boxes could allegedly be traced back to the club.

The Post spoke to one regular, who was upset the club was padlocked, "It was f- - -ing awesome! This was the greatest establishment." However, some employees were thrilled; one stripper said Posner was a "a sleazy, disgusting and disloyal boss." And some neighbors in the building claimed they knew it was a den of sin, while tenant said to the Times, '“I always see beautiful ladies coming in and well-dressed guys. But I didn’t know what it was. I heard it was for a photography studio.”

Besides the Posners, managers and a few women, including porn star Alexia Moore, were arrested. The website for the club is extremely NSFW.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 19, 2008 12:08 PM

Comments [rss]

Karen24

I was a dancer at the Hot Lap Dance Club on the night of the police raid and it was a horrible experience. I was just standing by the front door and all of a sudden dozens of Vice cops came storming in with full riot gear and shields, waiving loaded semi-automatic hand guns. I was scared to death and though I might get killed in the cross-fire from an accidental shoot-out. This police response was absolutely uncalled for and is another example of how this City has turned into a police state.

I also can't believe how the cops and the press have smeared the reputation of Louis Posner and the Hot Lap Dance Club. The truth is that Lou was a nice guy and was well liked by the dancers and he never abused his privileges as the boss. The HLD Club was actually quite strict in its rules and I never saw any prostitution there.

Mac38

I went to this club many times and I will agree with the comments that the club was "awesome" and that there was a lot of "beautiful ladies" and "well dressed guys." Everything else that you read in the papers is total BS. It sounds like the cops fed the papers a lot of BS to justify busting this club and to make themselves look good. I never saw any drugs at this club, and there certainly was no "house dealer of cocaine".

Like any other strip club in Manhattan, there were private booths and rooms. Just because there were private rooms, does not mean that there was prostitution at the club. They had a live sybian show, just like the one in the Howard Stern Show. That's legal.

All of this talk about "money laundering" is ridiculous. It was just a strip club. This was no organized crime operation. Ever since Guiliani, law enforcement in this City has gotten really out of hand.

NannyState

Big surprise. Lawyers are the filthiest, most disgusting sex freaks imaginable. This club is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine those other lawyer-fueled private clubs that no undercover cop would dare set foot into. I knew one woman who worked through college as a housekeeper and ran off on a high profile lawyer client who wanted his dungeon cleaned.

Novanglus

I'm usually pretty picky with the stripper thing, but the Daily News had a pic of that porn star with her leg up.....damn.

runs with scissors

remove the strip clubs from the street level and they will reopen under shadier circumstances elsewhere where they can't be seen by the public

hoodlum

Regulations and health inspectors will help the safety of sex workers and patrons. And kickbacks can happen regardless of whether it's legal or not. :-/

slappy

Yeah, legalize it. Oh wait, regulations, health inspectors, kickbacks, etc, etc. Naaah, just leave it alone.

Peter

From the site:

At Hot Lap Dance, they don’t beat around the bush.

Heh. I'll bet the "bush" was nearly extinct at the club, with all the women sporting the hideous pedophilic Bald Eagle look :((((

TKaisen

one stripper said Posner was a "a sleazy, disgusting and disloyal boss."

This might be the funniest thing I've read in weeks because I'm picturing a girl in a stripper outfit saying with a serious look on her face.

Anna_Merkin

Strip Strip Club. LOL.

I wonder what they'll call "Big Lou" in the hooscow. I have a feeling that he'll be calling someone else, "Daddy."

Seriously, reading the linked articles makes me think that this guy was an operational amateur. While he probably knew enough about anti-money laundering laws to avoid a level of detection by the Federales, he receives a big fat "F" for not knowing how to keep operational details limited to only a handful of people who need to know.

Floor managers don't need to know what was available - whether drugs or freebies, unless "Big Lou" intends to cop a plea that he didn't know what was going on and wants to let all of the lower people take the fall for everything but the money laundering. At a minimum, he needed a Number Two to help isolate him.