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Pacha NYC Opens, Sort Of
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| burtonlinx |
Underage celebs, police raids, and queues round the block. Pacha NYC opens in style
Words: Terry Church
With all the glitz, glamour, and drama of a Hollywood flick, New York’s Pacha finally opened, dogged by controversy and police raids.
On Wednesday 7th December, Pete Tong, Louie Vega, and Todd Terry played to a packed club of VIPs and celebrities that included Sopranos star Robert Iler.
Unfortunately for him and Pacha, the next morning’s edition of The Post published a photo of Iler swigging from a bottle of Imperia, cigar in hand.
The problem is he’s only 20-years-old, and below the legal drinking age in the States (21).
Sopranos star Robert Iler was caught drinking illegally at Pacha on its opening night
Pacha said they had no idea how he got his hands on the booze.
Obviously, the cops didn’t believe them, because a truckload of them showed up on the official opening night the following Friday.
Pacha was supposed to be the slim glimmer of hope for New York’s fledging nightlife scene.
Relentless raids by party police have ensued that the city’s once exciting and hedonistic club scene has virtually evaporated.
But when tens of police raided Pacha on its opening night, it set a precedent for continued overzealous attacks on NYC’s nightlife.
Optimists hope Pacha will rekindle NYC's dismal nightlife
Reportedly, the dancefloor was “going right off” when Erick Morillo was forced off the decks at about 1am to announce the arrival of the police.
A statement from Pacha's owner Eddie Dean read: "There was a huge turnout for the grand opening of Pacha with large crowds of people waiting on West 46th Street to gain entry to the club.
"The police came down to do an inspection, something that is customary with new clubs.
"When they saw the people outside, they chose to close the whole block down and asked us to help clear the area.
"After the inspection, all parties were concerned that if we re-opened, the people asked to leave may come back and caused an unsafe situation."
Eyewitnesses reported seeing ambulances arrive, and there were unconfirmed rumours that the police visited Pacha due to clubbers collapsing from drugs and for being overcapacity.
Maggie Stein from Pacha dismissed the rumours: "The police always inspect a new venue when it opens, it's their way of saying 'hello'.
"New York venues are now under greater scrutiny by the authorities than ever before.
"New York is a more conservative city, so every venue is a target," she adds.
Despite the opening night's fiasco, Pacha was open the next night, and was a resounding success says Stein.
"Erick, and the team at Pacha are all New Yorkers, and we're all desperate to make this work," she says.
"We don't just want it for ourselves, we want it for New York." |
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| apri_peel |
yeah hehe
a guy i know had tickets and all, never made it inside, actually stayed in the same spot in the line up until the cops showed up and closed it down
stuff like this makes me appreciate the not so crazy nighlife we have in van. the only clubs here with huge line ups play top 40 and hip hop, of no concern or worry to me :toothless |
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| Salem |
| christ, I dont think those are the djs you want to bring in for an opening night. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... |
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| exergo |
^ yeah morillo and vega are 2 of the worst house djs ever.....
morillo and vega are new york house....couldn't have picked anyone better imho |
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| Tayfoon |
| My mates played there and said it was fine :conf: |
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tranceaddict Forums Archive > Local Scene Info / Discussion > Canada > Canada - Western Canada
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