New York's Last Remaining Superclubs Offered For Sale

Both Limelight and The Tunnel nightclubs are being put up for auction this Monday (August 13th) in a move that will almost certainly lead to the permanent closure of both Manhattan superclubs. According to local business channel WNBC, the clubs' owner Peter Gatien is 'ready to end his years-long battle with City Hall' (ie Mayor Giuliani and his deputy Rudy Washington), and continues to face ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

America's war on club drugs, meanwhile, escalated further this week with Illinois authorities introducing minimum six year jail terms (ie without remission) for anybody caught in possession of more than 15 ecstasy tablets. Senator Kirk Dillard, who sponsored the new legislation, told the Chicago Tribune that the new laws makes Illinois 'clearly the frontrunner nationwide on cracking down on what is a killer drug, Ecstasy, which is basically running pretty rampant.'

"People think that because there's a cutesy name like Ecstasy that the drug
somehow is not as dangerous as heroin, cocaine and LSD, but the number of
deaths recently show it absolutely is as dangerous," he said. Additional changes to the law, also mean that if somebody dies after taking even one ecstasy tablet, then the person responsible for providing the pill, will also be charged with 'drug-induced homicide'.

The US emphasis on heavy prison sentences to prevent ecstasy deaths comes as European authorities are increasingly approving harm reduction measures including ecstasy testing and chill out rooms. In Holland, where authorities permit ecstasy testing in clubs to screen out adulterated pills, authorities recently celebrated a year of zero of ecstasy-related deaths, in stark contrast to the UK, where testing remains outlawed. However, even in the UK, police attributed the latest two ecstasy deaths (at London club SE1 in june) to over-heating rather than 'killer' pills. One week after issuing a pill amnesty for suspected poison pills marked with the crown logo, the police issued a second warning emphasising the importance of keeping cool. "Youngsters who go to raves should take lots of water, relax in cool-down areas and take advice on "safer drug use"' a police spokesman told The Sunday Times.

In fact, almost all of Europe's ecstasy related deaths have been linked to users overheating, which has ominous health implications for the US, given the terms of the recent plea-bargain deal arranged between the DEA and 'crackhouse' promoters Robert and Brian Brunet (from the New Orleans State Palace Theatre). As part of the deal, the pair have agreed to remove "'Chill Rooms' or 'areas in the theatre which are purposely kept 15 degrees cooler than the rest of the theatre.' Setting a precedent, the pleas bargain means that any US club that maintains a cooler area, risks prosecution under the crack-house laws.
Jonty Adderley (additional reporting Susan Cistone, NYC)

http://www.msnbc.com/local/WNBC/NBCB1W982QC.asp (Peter Gatien & Limelight)

http://www.emdef.org (Help defend US club culture)

http://www.nyclnc.org (Save New York's Nightlife Campaign)

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