4
Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Neighbors fed up
with the Mansion
Continued from page 3
“After midnight, if you can hear any of these noises
coming from a building on an adjacent piece of property,
then it is a violation,” the police chief said. “All you have
to do is hear it.”
The Town of Newburgh Police Department received
“numerous” complaints regarding the club over the summer and fall, Clancy said. Two assaults were reported
during this time, one inside the strip club and the other
spilled out onto the street. One person was arrested, he
said.
“We assigned an officer to be a presence in the area, to
monitor and listen for music,” Clancy said Friday. ”This
weekend, our officers did not hear music.”
Club owner Keith Slifstein said the club has taken a
number of steps to address complaints. “We’ve unhooked
all of our bass speakers so that there is no vibration coming from the facility,” said Slifstein Monday.
The speakers were unplugged about a month ago, he
said, around the same time Pabey presented petition signatures to the council.
Slifstein said police have been at the facility with decibel readers to monitor noise levels. “We’ve posted signs
to move our designated smoking area further toward 9W,
away from Devito Drive,” he said. “The signs say to be
respectful of the neighborhood and keep the noise down.”
Since the strip club opened in 2012, residents have complained of fights, litter, property trespassing and parking
problems, said Clancy. Customers sometimes park on
Devito Drive as the club charges money to park in the
parking lot, he said.
“There is nothing audible coming from the facility
if you’re standing on Devito Drive any time we’re open,
except the cars driving on 9W,” Slifstein insisted this
week. “We tell (patrons) they can’t park on Devito Drive.”
The club is attempting to be “proactive” in response to
the complaints, he said. “We want to be respectful of our
neighbors and give our employees a clean place to work
and provide for their families. It would work against us
not to work with the community.”
Slifstein believes “prejudice” drives at least some of the
complaints. “When people take their personal prejudices
and make them into false allegations, it’s just not right,”
he said. However, he acknowledged it was impossible to
control club patrons 100 percent of the time. “You can’t
prevent everything,” he said.
Clancy said the police department would report the
complaints to the New York State Liquor Authority
later this month. “We are completing paperwork for the
Liquor Authority reports,” he said. “We’ll submit them to
Albany next week.”
The complaints occur more than two years after a
lawsuit was filed by the strip club objecting to a town
ordinance restricting the location of strip clubs and other
adult-oriented businesses within the town. The lawsuit
was settled that same year.
The site has been the home of several strip clubs with
various owners over the years – the Blue Moon and
Fantasy Island, among them.
Police Blotter
New Windsor Police
Lorraine A. Jones, 59 of New Windsor was charged
on October 29th with aggravated DWI misdemeanor,
insurance violation, breath test violation, failure to
yield at intersection, failure to keep right, improper
right turn and unregistered motor vehicle. She was
arraigned before Town Justice Noreen Calderin and
released on her own recognizance and returned to
court on November 12th.
Jeffrey Montero, 34 of Albany was charged on
October 31st with two counts of possession of a controlled substance in the 3rd degree, ability impaired
by drugs, failure to keep right and improper lane
use. He was arraigned before Town Justice Richard
Thorpe and held. He returned to court on November
10th.
Randy M. Montanya, 21 of Walden was charged on
October 31st with suspended registration, unlicensed
driver and aggravated operation in the 3rd degree. He
was arraigned before Town Justice Richard Thorpe
and released on his own recognizance and will return
to court on November 24th.
Luis A. Rodriguez, 48 of Newburgh was charged on
October 31st with suspended registration, AUO 2nd
degree, unlicensed driver, no/expired insurance. He
was arraigned before Town Justice Richard Thorpe
and released on his own recognizance and will return
to court on November 22nd.
Danica Pennant, 27 of Newburgh was charged on
October 31st with Petit Larceny. She was arraigned
before Town Justice Richard Thorpe and released
on her own recognizance and returned to court on
November 10th.
Michael T. Bell, 31 of Newburgh was charged on
October 31st with aggravated unlicensed operation
in the 3rd degree and failure to yield left. He was
arraigned before Town Justice Noreen Calderin and
released on his own recognizance and will return to
court on November 19th.
Eduardo G. Rivas, 16 of Newburgh was charged
on November 2nd with unlawful possession of alcohol. He was arraigned before Town Justice Richard
Thorpe and released on his own recognizance and
will return to court on December 8th.
Eric A. Balko, 25 of Monroe was arrested on
November 3rd on a bench warrant.
He is due to
return to City of Newburgh court at a later date.
Johnathan C. Torres, 26 of Walden was charged
on November 4th with aggravated unlicensed operation in the 1st degree, unreasonable speed, unregistered motor vehicle, insurance violation, improper
plates and unlicensed driver.
He was arraigned
before Town Justice Noreen Calderin and released
on his own recognizance and will return to court on
December 10th.
Natalie A. Hemingway, 54 of Newburgh was
charged on November 4th with aggravated unlicensed
operation in the 2nd degree, suspended registration,
unlicensed driver and insurance violation. She was
arraigned before Town Justice Richard Thorpe and
released on her own recognizance and will return to
court on December 8th.
Enoise Lucero, 27 of Newburgh was charged on
November 4th with U-turn on grade road, no/expired
insurance, failure to notify DMV change and aggravated unlicensed operation in the 3rd degree. She was
arraigned before Town Justice Noreen Calderin and
released on her own recognizance and will return to
court