Results tagged “nightclubs”

Police have arrested three young women who are accused of scamming up to 50 men that they would lure from nightclubs by offering a ride, only to steal their ATM pins and later rob them. 21-year-olds Tiffany Rasberry and Subhanna Beyah and 22-year-old Barbara Labady were eventually caught after a run-in with an attorney they spotted smoking a cigarette outside the West Village hotspot Lotus on West 14th Street. The "powerhouse lawyer" says, "They drove up in a car with the windows down and said, 'Let's go to a party. Would you like to come with us?' They flirted with him as he took money out at the ATM and then went on to hit up his account half an hour later for $1,600. Another incident scored them $5,000 and they also swiped Blackberries and wallets while having men in the car. The Post refers to the trio as "sexy scammers" and "seductive suspects" and talks to a detective who says they claimed to turn to the scam "as an alternative to turning tricks." According to the Facebook account of Tiffany Rasberry (pictured), she is a 2006 graduate of the Connecticut boarding school Miss Porter's.

Clubland may have shed a Visine-assisted tear upon news that the church that once housed the Limelight will soon be turned into a boring store, but at least partygoers are apparently able to turn to some familiar coping mechanisms making their first appearance in years—drugs like quaaludes that the DA's office says are back on the scene. Prosecutors tell the Post that recent busts have turned up "designer drugs rarely seen since the hippie era" that also include ecstasy-like BZP and the short-term trip-inducing DMT. A rep from the DA's office tells the paper, "We're seeing the emergence, particularly, of hallucinatory drugs. It's definitely related to the club scene, and targeted at selling to college students." The drugs have been particularly prominent at Asian night clubs and Flushing karaoke bars. Cops who busted a ring that sold at clubs such as Pacha, Rebel and Suzie Wong's say that the drugs from eras past have found their way into new packages, such as being disguised as Transformer figures and Obama campaign pins.

Clubgoers at NYC hotspots are known for their fancy threads, but no one can front on one high roller's regular work attire: clerical robes. The Daily News has a profile of Reverend Gregory Malia, the Pennsylvania minister who makes regular trips to local clubs and is well-known by staffers for the generous cash he lays out whenever he visits. The divorced dad, who earns big bucks in pharmaceuticals, likes to hit Pink Elephant and Citrine and hears screams of "Father Greg!" from waitresses when he comes through the door--possibly because he's had nights where he has bought a $35,000 bottle and then laid out an extra ten grand on top of the usual 20% tip. And his charity doesn't end there. One source told the News. "He hangs out with waitresses, and sometimes comes back after a big night and takes (them) shopping...If they get someone like Father Greg, they know they're going to have a good night." Reverend Malia, whose business helps treat people who suffer from hemophilia (as he does), told the paper. "I work hard. I make good money...With my health condition, it's a blessing and a curse; [but] I do like to go out."

As two young women were led out of FIT student housing in handcuffs last night after getting busted for running a coke ring, the only emotions revealed from their faces came from having a case of the giggles. When they spotted reporters out front of their West 31st Street dorms following the arrests of the two as well as their supplier on multiple counts of cocaine possession and sale, 22-year-old Christine Scafa laughed and said, "Oh my God, are you guys serious? We're not Plaxico Burress!" This triggered her 21-year-old partner in crime Mickenzie Dippenworth to zing back, "Well, I'm a Plaxico Burress fan." Like her fallen idol, Dippenworth was no stranger to the city club scene, where she originally sold cocaine to an undercover cop at nearby hotspot Home. That led to a series of undercover purchases as police gathered evidence of the two dealing to a number of fellow FIT students. The Post says that both were from "very good backgrounds:" Scafa ran in this year's NYC Marathon and Dippenworth was once a girl scout. UPDATE: FIT's president sent an email to the school community: "this situation appears to be an isolated incident and involves no others on campus."

The rowdy drunken yahoos stumbling out of nightclubs on the Lower East Side and East Village have some residents nostalgic for the old days of pre-gentrified lawlessness. 47-year-old Frances Ayers, who lives at Rivington and Ludlow streets, tells the Post, "At least with the drug dealers there wasn't any noise." Since July 2007, when the city’s stricter noise code went into effect, complaints recorded by local community boards have boomed.