CRACKDOWN ON SUPER-LATE CLUBS
The State Liquor Authority is cracking down on all-night New Year's parties - denying a slew of clubs a special permit that would allow them to stay open extra late, The Post has learned.
For the first time, SLA officials are enforcing a little-known rule that allows them to reject requests for the special permits from any clubs that have charges from the agency pending against them.
The crackdown - one official said more than 40 clubs have been targeted and the number could be higher - comes in the wake of several violent incidents this year at or near clubs.
Those include the deaths of 18-year-old Jennifer Moore, who was raped and murdered after leaving a Chelsea nightclub, and 24-year-old Imette St. Guillen, whose murder has been blamed on a bouncer at a bar in SoHo.
Club owners and elected officials were infuriated by the SLA's surprise move to nix many requests for the special permits, which allow clubs to keep partying on New Year's past the legal 4 a.m. closing time.
"This policy has never been applied on New Year's Eve," said Robert Bookman, a lawyer for the New York Nightlife Association, noting that previously the special New Year's permits were routinely granted.
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