When downtown residents talk about the Gotham Citi shootings, they are not referencing the new Batman movie, but the downtown club whose after-hours parties have preceded two separate shootings in the past few months.
At a Tuesday meeting of the Downtown/Wooster Squar Management Team that also addressed the Shartenberg and Gateway downtown development projects, District Manager Lt. Marty Tchakirides (at right in photo) reported police progress on the club front.
The most recent incident took place on June 21, when two rival groups of teenagers encountered one another at the club and took old business out into the street. After a shoot-out around an occupied parked car, the police arrived to find that everyone had fled but an uncooperative 18-year-old who had been shot in the arm.
This was on the heels of another after-hours shooting outside the club in April.
Gotham Citi had been running a hip hop night on Fridays that ended at 2 a.m., followed by an “OZ after hours” party that usually continued until 3 or 3:30. The club’s regular police detail finishes its overtime shift and is gone by 2:30.
“Downtown at 3 or 3:30 is a ghost town,” Tchakirides said.
Following the June shooting, Gotham Citi Manager Rob Bartolomeo agreed, after consultation with the police department, to start closing the club at 2 a.m. after the Friday night-early Saturday events, when most of the bars and clubs let out.
On the two Friday nights since the shooting (excluding July 4, when the state closed the club temporarily for serving minors alcohol), Tchakirides and a police detail have worked crowd control when hip hop night lets out and as many as 800 clubbers pour onto the streets.
“We literally have to herd people out of there,” he said. “They want to carry on the party on the street.”
Tchakirides said the two 2 a.m. closings he has worked have gone smoothly. He said it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to clear the streets, depending on the size of the crowd. He expects to return this Friday night before turning the job over to a sergeant with a detail.
In addition to the shootings, the police are tackling noise complaints. These are up in the summer months when residents keep their windows open and are bothered by music blasting from outdoor speakers at bars like Botega and Black Bear Saloon. Police are telling managers of bars with outdoor seating to move their customers inside starting at 10 p.m.
Excessive flyering by club promoters is another concern. After putting flyers on all the car windshields in sight, promoters will dump remaining stacks of paper on the street, Tchakirides said.
Public Safety Sub-Committee Chair Doug Hausladen (at right in photo) and Management Team Chairman Ken Gleasman (at left in top photo) described plans for an August forum that would bring together residents, police, and business owners to address some of these issues. Hausladen said that Bartolomeo, the Gotham Citi owner, has agreed to participate.
Tchakirides also reported two burglaries, a 2 a.m. purse snatching, and several car break-ins, usually of cars with a purse or GPS device visible.
And Gleason announced that new Police Chief James Lewis, a downtown resident, plans to visit the Management Team’s August meeting.
Can't the bars just stop blaring the music outside? Honestly, if I'm sitting outside to drink, I'd probably just prefer having no music. I'm there for the warm summer nights & friendship, not to listen to what someone else thinks is "great music".
I'm glad that the police will be providing a presence at Gotham: I hope Gotham is paying for the overtime!