Strip clubs sue New York over its shutdown in pandemic

New York, Mar 19 (EFE) .- A group of strip clubs has sued the New York authorities for keeping them closed during the coronavirus pandemic while allowing the progressive reopening of other businesses.
NYC Gentlemen’s Club, Starlet’s, Sugar Daddy’s and Gallagher’s 2000 argue that it is unfair that their stores cannot operate when they are, although with certain limitations, restaurants, casinos or bowling alleys, for example.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, the four clubs emphasize that their activities are not essentially different from those of this type of leisure and restaurant business.
As they emphasize, the authorities “have never publicly explained how bars and restaurants with exotic dance venues are significantly different” from other establishments.
The four businesses, which are claiming unspecified compensation for the economic damages they have suffered, say they are prepared to open with all necessary precautionary measures as soon as authorities authorize it.
In response, a state government spokesman told the New York Post that keeping these types of establishments closed is “common sense.”
“Although we are working to reopen as many areas of the economy as possible as quickly and safely as possible, science, data and common sense say that exotic dances are not permissible at this time,” he said.
The progressive reopening of businesses in New York, one of the cities hardest hit by covid-19 in the world, has accelerated in recent weeks, as the vaccination campaign advances.
Starting today, Friday, restaurants in the Big Apple will be able to operate with 50 percent of their capacity, compared to 35 percent today. Meanwhile, in the rest of the state of New York that percentage will go from 50 to 75 percent.

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