The 'Great Chelsea Nightclub Massacre'

Why did police raid six nightclubs in Manhattan on the night of March 31?

1 minute read

April 15, 2006, 7:00 AM PDT

By David Gest


"New York's nightclub scene was actually rocked on two fronts. On Friday, March 31, six nightclubs in Chelsea were raided; four of them were shut down. The following Monday, a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the universally loathed Cabaret Law.

The Cabaret Law, an infamously archaic, Prohibition-Era regulation that forbids dancing without a license has received plenty of attention over the years. While this license can be a problem for smaller nightclubs, even licensed clubs (there are less than 300 licensed establishments in New York) have to worry about obeying the letter of another law, more draconian and casting a far wider net than this one."

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 in New York Press

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