Sin Sin owner Philip [Quilter] seemed unable to muster any kind of serious commitment to dealing with these problems. He did say he would hire an additional bouncer, but only when pressed. His attitude waffled between saying that Sin Sin takes every reasonable measure to ensure quiet ... to denying that Sin Sin was even responsible for the behavior on the street.
He was promptly told that most everyone in the room has personally witnessed the mayhem emanate from Sin Sin. ... We left the ball in his court, asking him to write out his proposal to remediate the problem, asking him to specifically address security and patrons loitering on the street, and to look at his programming to see if changes could be made there.
Thank you for your response. We did, however ask that you give us specific information regarding former and present programmers, DJs or promoters responsible for the various nights at your club, which you refuse to present to us. And, though you would not give any detailed information, when pressed to respond you asked that we “believe you”, that the persons responsible for drawing the violent crowd to your club had been dismissed after our August 4th meeting. In the interim, your patrons have escalated the violence to murdering someone in our streets.
Sir, we do not believe you. Not a word that you say. And, as we said at the meeting on the 4th we have no desire to talk to you or to listen to your hollow promises. Do you think that we do not have eyes and ears? We see the same problematic clientele patronizing your club as before. We are looking for action, and until action is taken, and you begin to court a clientele who is not violent, you will continue to be viewed as a scourge on our otherwise peaceful neighborhood. And, the neighborhood will not rest until you are gone and Sin Sin’s license is revoked.
The victim’s sister, Makeba Thompson, said that his family and friends wanted to simply hang flowers from a tree in front the nightclub as a temporary memorial to her brother.
But when she asked the club’s owner about adding the flowers, he asked her not to.
“He said we could do it anyway if we wanted to, but it will definitely bring negative attention to his establishment,” said Makeba Thompson, 41.
Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge owner Philip Quilter acknowledged that he requested the memorial not go up, explaining that it may offend neighbors who have complained about issues of violence and noise related to his establishment.
“I would think there would be a backlash from our neighborhood if there was a memorial put outside,” he said, noting that passersby have been calling members of his staff “murderers” and “killers” since the shooting occurred.
East Fifth Street resident Stuart Zamsky has gotten so fed up with the noise and violence stemming from the nearby nightclub Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge that he’s taken to patrolling the sidewalk with a baseball bat to keep the crowds from disturbing his family.
Visitors to the popular nightspot will often gather outside the window of his two young sons’ room, screaming obscenities and even fighting on busy weekend nights, he said.
“There have been altercations on the street. It’s a very busy intersection,” said Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge owner Philip Quilter, who supplied the police with surveillance footage of the suspects from the night of the shooting.
“It has been mentioned that we’re responsible entirely [for the noise and violence], and that’s not the case,” he added. “We are responsible for some noise, but we’re the only place to police the streets until 5 o’clock in the morning.”
The victim, Devin Thompson, 37, of Kips Bay, was shot twice at the corner of East Fifth Street about 4 a.m. on Sun., Aug. 22, police said.
The man remained in critical condition at Bellevue hospital until dying from his wounds on Monday, NYPD sources said.
The incident occurred near the popular nightclub Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge, a location that police have been called to three times over the past year following reports of drug use and prostitution, sources said.
The victim and two suspects had been inside the club before the shooting occurred, but it is unknown whether the men knew each another prior to the incident, police added.
A man is in critical condition after being shot twice on a busy stretch of Second Avenue early Sunday morning, police said.
The unnamed victim, 43, was shot in the chest and arm at the corner of East Fifth Street at about 4 a.m., NYPD sources said.
He was transported to Bellevue Hospital and remains in critical condition, police said.
During the course of the disorganized meeting, various residents reiterated some of the problems they were experiencing as a result of Sin Sin's method of operation, ranging from people partying in their cars, to crowds on the street, trash and waste deposited by patrons, violence from patrons ... These were not new items being discussed, as they were brought to light recently at CB3 and other meetings.
Sin Sin owner Phillip seemed unable to muster any kind of serious commitment to dealing with these problems. He did say he would hire an additional bouncer, but only when pressed. His attitude waffled between saying that Sin Sin takes every reasonable measure to ensure quiet ... to denying that Sin Sin was even responsible for the behavior on the street.
He was promptly told that most everyone in the room has personally witnessed the mayhem emanate from Sin Sin. ... We left the ball in his court, asking him to write out his proposal to remediate the problem, asking him to specifically address security and patrons loitering on the street, and to look at his programming to see if changes could be made there.
Lt. Ferguson was nearly as bad as the club owner. He recounted statistics that the block association has known for years, and was responsible for bringing to the officials' attention. When asked what the police would/could do for our community, he seemed at a complete loss and said that they were overwhelmed with this sort of thing throughout their/our precinct. He gave out numbers to call ... but his inability to commit to dealing with this problem was disheartening.
The upside of the evening is that there is now an official record, witnessed by the police of the unwillingness of the bar to try to remediate the problem, AND their persistence in denying that they are the cause.
