By JUDY RATTNER
State Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey J. O'Connell declined on Aug. 10 to issue an order that would have allowed the nightclub to re-open pending the appeal, acting Village Attorney Tom Levin said.
The Village Board, acting on the report and recommendation of an independent hearing officer, passed a strongly-worded resolution on Aug. 2 finding that the nightclub was a "menace to the health, safety and general welfare of the public" and that it had "endangered" patrons, passersby and neighbors of the business, located in the basement of the old Pennysaver Building at 222 Sunrise Highway.
The Board's resolution upheld the village's refusal to renew the nightclub's business license and ordered its immediate closing.
The Village originally denied the license renewal last March, but Rapture appealed and a hearing was held in April.
In July, the hearing officer, attorney Peter A. Bee, supported that denial, citing Rapture's "string of run-ins with law enforcement, including muggings, beatings, fights, gunshots, gang activity, drug activity, noise pollution, traffic congestion, overcrowding, and fire code violations; and State Liquor Authority violations which include sales of alcohol to underage patrons."
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