Tough Doors: The Most Dangerous Place in Nightlife

By Gamal Hennessy

Two of the major stories floating around the nightlife press this week revolve around safety. On one hand, NYNA and the NYPD have released the second edition of the Nightlife Best Practices. This new set of guidelines are designed to help operators work with police to protect us from threats ranging from sexual assaults to terrorist threats. At the same time news came out that a man named Christopher Adames was stabbed and killed just outside of the popular Juliet Supperclub. While details about the latest crime have not fully been revealed, this incident fits a pattern that is fairly specific to nightlife. History suggests that serious violence is much more likely to occur in the immediate area outside a venue as opposed to inside the venue itself.

Where?

There have been a number of events over the past 20+ years that support this theory.  

• ·         In 1989, Virgil Sylvia was killed outside Payday.
• ·         In 1990 David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo shot bouncer Marcus Peterson outside The Palladium.
• ·         In 2001, Terrence Davis was stabbed to death outside Tunnel.
• ·         In 2003, a bouncer named Dana Blake was stabbed to death outside Guernica by Isaias Umali.
• ·         In 2006, bouncer Stephen Sakai shot Gustavo Cuadros outside Opus 22.
• ·         Imette St. Guillen and Jennifer Moore were both killed in 2006 in separate incidents after leaving The Falls and Guest House clubs.
• ·         A serial rapist was allegedly targeting isolated women as they left The Box in 2007.
• ·         Laura Garza disappeared after leaving Marquee with a man named Michael Mele in the last month of 2008.
• ·         In 2009, Mario Olmedo slashed several people outside Deco.

While the years and weapons used and number of victims are different, one constant thread remains. Each attack took place outside the venue.

Why?

The reasons behind this phenomenon aren’t hard to understand if you consider the mentality of the attackers. From a psychological standpoint, there is a higher chance that the ego and self-esteem of fanatics is lower at the door. There could be several triggers for their distress. Maybe they can’t get in. Maybe they just got kicked out. Maybe some woman rejected them. Maybe they spent more money than they had. Whatever the cause, the end result is the same. Their self-respect has been lowered and their temper has been raised. They lash out, either the operators, patrons or random passers-by as a way to regain their sense of power and control.

This isn’t a justification for fanatic behavior. It is also not a suggestion that nightlife is inherently dangerous. In the last twenty years, there have been an infinitesimal number of fatalities compared to the 30,000 people that nightlife employs and the one billion entries that patrons have in nightlife every year. The only thing I’m attempting to point out is that a major location of potential nightlife violence is just outside the venue itself. That is one of the reasons security is stationed at the door. When you go out, it’s a good idea to get through the door (in or out) as quickly as possible. Give the operators at the door a chance to do their job and give yourself a chance to get out of harm’s way in the unlikely event that a problem arises.

Have fun.

G