Club king Peter Gatien won his latest legal skirmish yesterday with state and city officials trying to close his west Chelsea nightspot, The Tunnel.
The club reopened last night after a judge ruled Gatien deserved a hearing to rebut the State Liquor Authority’s order yanking the Tunnel’s liquor license.
Cops raided the club early last Saturday morning and arrested 14 people – many on drug charges. City officials have vowed to close the club they called a “drug supermarket.”
The SLA voted unanimously on Wednesday to yank the club’s liquor license while it investigated four possible violations of state law.
The action meant only that alcohol could not be sold at the Tunnel, but the club closed down that night.
Gatien’s lawyers, Ben Brafman and Alan Klinger, obtained a show-cause order from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Robert Lippman giving Gatien his license back, pending the hearing Tuesday.
The Giuliani administration, which has vowed to close the club permanently, said it would follow the next legal steps.
“In our view, the Tunnel continues to be a quality-of-life issue for the community,” Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington said.