Last week's cover story on the brewing trouble at some area nightclubs in the weeks leading up to the gunfire on Pine Avenue that left two young men dead drew plenty of feedback, including responses from two of the principals at a pair of the places involved.
Pat McCune, longtime promoter at a number of area bars, said his business relationship with Kin Lau, co-owner of Dante's Ristorante, began over lunch at the restaurant.
"I didn't even know Dante's had been sold -- I thought Mr. (Dante) Cipollitti still owned it," McCune said. "I asked Kin how business was going, and he said, 'Not so good. I've got to do something to get people in here.'
"I told him I promote 'hip-hop nights.' I told him, 'This crowd will pay a cover charge, they'll drink expensive cognac, but you'll get hassled,'" McCune said.
McCune said his concern stemmed from Dante's location on the edge of Pine Avenue's Little Italy section, but that Lau and partner Sal Gianporcaro decided to go ahead with the hip-hop promotion in the facility's basement. The former banquet room was rechristened "Beddy's Lounge," a reference to the notorious former Bedrock's bar on Third Street, where McCune also served as promoter. Following the July 6 shootings, a State Liquor Authority inspection found that the owners hadn't procured the required separate license for the downstairs bar.
"The first night, we drew 300 people," he said. "I asked one girl, 'How come you're willing to pay a cover charge?' She said, 'Pat, we've got no place else to go that's nice.'"
McCune, who said he lost his own liquor license after a cocaine-related conviction, said the evening that ended with Josh Hunt and Shaloin Smith dying on the sidewalk along Pine Avenue and four others wounded started peacefully enough.
"It was an 18-and-over night -- anybody under 21 got a big mark on their hand so the bartenders knew not to serve them," McCune said. "There wasn't any trouble inside that night."
That came after the bar closed. McCune said the club's security made sure the premises were cleared, but that there were no police in the area to maintain order as hundreds made their way back to their cars.
On a Saturday night in the middle of tourist season, there were only six Niagara Falls police officers on duty in the entire city. A state trooper who responded to the scene following the gunfight told one city cop that he'd been called in for backup more often in 2003 alone than in the rest of his career combined.
"When I was promoting at PM Niagara II (a defunct bar on Main Street), we never had problems like that," McCune said. "When you had 300 or 400 people walking out, you had cops sitting outside," he said. "Put one cop out there, and people will see that and go home."
McCune is on pre-trial probation on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, but maintains his innocence, and said his legal troubles don't legally prevent him from working in his field.
"I'm a convicted felon -- I admit that," he said. "But I have a right to make a living and make up for that mistake. I'm allowed to get things like ticket sales or door charges, but not liquor proceeds."
He took issue with one downtown bar owner's implication that he preys on faltering establishments.
"I've never done that -- I don't have to," McCune said. "New bars open up and they seek me out."
At Club 427, a brawl the night before the shootings led to beefed-up security at the building, which once housed Bedrock's, general manager Ed Webster said.
One or two security officers equipped with metal-detecting wands work the door, Webster said, with three or four more inside the club. Signs outside the bar spell out what's allowed and what isn't -- including one specifically prohibiting "blunts," hollowed-out cigars stuffed with marijuana.
"We're not even letting anybody bring in Philly Blunts (the cheap cigars that give the makeshift pot vehicle its name)," Webster said. "We allow cigar smoking, at least until the smoking ban kicks in, but we're keeping those out because of the connection."
The club raised its cover charge to $10 for men and $7 for women, in an effort to attract an older crowd and discourage people whose intent is trouble, rather than simple revelry.
"We thought about going to 25-and-over, but we have some regular customers who are good people who are under 25," he said.
The club's dress code, abandoned within weeks of Club 427's early-May opening due to flagging attendance, has been reinstated. Excessively baggy clothing, such as oversized sports jerseys and running suits, are banned to help security make sure no one brings in any prohibited items or weapons. Ratty sneakers and most headgear are on the forbidden list as well.
Pure hip-hop nights are also a thing of the past, Webster said.
"We're doing more R&B and dance music, with a minimal mix of hip-hop," he said. "We've been putting out fliers and trying to draw a crowd from all over the area, not just Niagara Falls. We want people to feel safe and have a good time."
No one will do either any time soon at Dante's. McCune said Lau surrendered his liquor license July 11 in hopes of reapplying for one in his own name, after an SLA check found Gianporcaro had a background that should have made him ineligible. Gianporcaro told Lau the criminal charges that showed up on the SLA check belonged to his father, Salvatore Sr.
Lau hoped to reopen Dante's in 30 days under a new name as a pure restaurant/bar, with no nightclub.
Trouble erupted inside the bar last week when Gianporcaro returned to Niagara Falls after fleeing the state the morning after the shooting. A scuffle Thursday afternoon between the two erstwhile partners ended with Gianporcaro's arrest on assault charges.
For the record, the Niagara Falls Reporter's foreign language department informed Citycide that Gianporcaro translates literally from Italian as "boss of pigs."
McCune said the end of Beddy's Lounge won't be the end of similar promotions in Niagara Falls.
"People don't care if it's in 'the hood,' but if you bring it down to Main or Pine, it's not happening," he said. "We need to integrate, not segregate, and the black market is a huge market."
He's right about that, but the bottom line is this:
If nightclub owners want to pack hundreds of people in a room and crank loud music -- whether it's hip-hop, heavy metal or bluegrass -- they have a responsibility to provide adequate security. No one can guarantee some idiot isn't going to open fire outside their place, but chaos tends to breed chaos.
City Hall has a responsibility to use what resources it has to make sure its residents and visitors can have a reasonable expectation of safety, not just to build surpluses that sound good come election time.
People who go out for a night on the town have a responsibility not to pretend they're living the thug life, whether they're white, black or lavender.
Ultimately, if the first two groups live up to their obligations, the third is much more likely to follow suit. And the bloodshed on Pine Avenue in the wee hours of July 6 will be remembered as a cautionary isolated incident, rather than the beginning of a deadly trend.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 22 2003 |