Pressure is mounting to shut down the Velvet Rope nightclub on East Redwood Street in downtown Baltimore. The club, which holds 950 patrons and attracts hip hop artists from around the country, has been linked to two violent incidents in eight days. Now, police and the Downtown Partnership, a group of business owners, want the place shut.
A week ago, police said a near-riot broke out when angry ticket-holders stormed the doors of an oversold show. Early Thursday, police linked a double shooting at Lombard and Light streets, near the Inner Harbor, to patrons who had minutes earlier been booted from the club for fighting. A liquor board hearing is set for March 25 and city police are busy collecting reports and building a case to try and get the license revoked and possibly invoke the padlock statute to shut down the club for at least a year.
The club's lawyer argues that security did everything it could on Thursday by quickly breaking up the fight, kicking the combants out of separate doors 20 minutes apart and escorting them to side streets. Police said one man then got a gun hidden in an alley and shot two men in the legs.
Is the club responsible for the behavior of it's patrons once they're out of the establishment and two and a half blocks away? The club says no. Police and others, including the Downtown Partnership, argue otherwise, saying the club attracts a rowdy group of patrons who are disruptive and violent.
Michael Evitts, a spokesman for the partnership, said his security chief, retired Baltimore Police Maj. Tom Yeager, who once commanded the Central District, argued against the club getting a liquor license when it opened last year, saying it was too big a venue for a downtown location so close to tourist attractions and hotels.
Since then, Evitts told me they have pulled police reports showing a series of cuttings and beatings directly related to the nightspot, and that hotel managers are lining up complaints about unruly and drunk patrons wondering around and bothering guests in the early morning hours. Evitts said that just as bartenders are responsible for overserving drunks who later get behind the wheel of a car, club owners should be held similarly responsible.
Here is a letter the Downtown Partnership sent to the liquor board, after the near riot but before Thursday's double shooting:
Stephan W. Fogleman, Chairman
Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City
231 E. Baltimore Street, 6th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Dear Chairman Fogleman:
This letter is to request that immediate action be taken to close the Velvet Rope, a nightlife venue located at 200 East Redwood Street.
Downtown Partnership of Baltimore oversees the Downtown Management Authority (DMA) and the delivery of programs in the 106-block DMA district that includes the Velvet Rope. It also represents several thousand members that include Downtown employees, residents, and investors.
In a previous letter to the Liquor Board, dated February, 12, 2008, The Partnership wrote to express its concerns about the Velvet Rope's then pending request for a liquor license. Specifically, it was our informed opinion that the club's security plan was inadequate given the size of the venue and the fact that it would sell alcohol but no food. The Velvet Rope security plan did not then, and does not now, adequately address the behavior of potentially rowdy club patrons outside the building. Violent incidents since the club has opened have justified Downtown Partnership's initial concerns.
Downtown Partnership has Police Department reports that document, since November 8 of 2009, City officers have been called to the club to address large, violent, and intoxicated crowds on at least eight occasions. The reports state that there have been multiple fights, stabbings, and drug use.
This week, a situation created by the Velvet Rope escalated beyond its control when this "megaclub" oversold an event. Police estimated that an overflow crowd of approximately 700 people was densely packed into the 200 block of E. Redwood Street. The crowd became unruly when access to the club was denied, pushing to get into the building. The club's security attempted to push the crowd back and began spraying what is reported as "mace dispensed from a fogger," which created "near riot conditions" as "individuals in the crowd began running in all directions." It required 50 officers from across the city, the helicopter unit, and Special Operations to restore order. These events were captured by the Citiwatch cameras.
Police reports do not detail the constant traffic and parking concerns, public intoxication, external noise from club patrons, public urination, littering, and vandalism to nearby cars and properties caused by patrons of the Velvet Rope. Such activities are happening in an area where there are several hotels, apartment buildings, and office buildings with 24-hour operations. The Partnership receives regular complaints about the Velvet Rope from surrounding residents and businesses, particularly hotels. In addition, we must dispense operations crews each morning to clean up litter, remove graffiti, and power-wash sidewalks around the club.
The Velvet Rope sits in the middle of Downtown Baltimore which is no longer a strictly nine-to-five office district. There are more than 113,000 people who work here and, with 40,000 residents and growing, Downtown Baltimore is one of the most densely-packed residential neighborhoods in the nation. A delicate balance must be struck between the needs of residents, property owners, and hotel guests with those of nightlife patrons. The owners and operators of Velvet Rope have shown no willingness to take even reasonable accommodations to strike this balance.
Baltimore's tourism industry, residents, and Downtown's reputation as a safe location for nightlife are severely compromised by the Velvet Rope and those who operate it with reckless disregard to the surrounding community. I urge the Board of Liquor License Commissioners to take immediate action to keep this club from opening its doors again.
Sincerely,
Kirby Fowler
President