ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—If its application is approved by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, Scores Atlantic City will become the only gentlemen’s club operating in a casino in the gaming hub, an advantage that could reap big rewards for the company. The application to open a club in the Trump-owned Taj Mahal Casino Hotel was submitted Aug. 27 by Starlight Events, which, according to the application, is operated by the same individual who owns a controlling interest in New York City gentlemen’s club Scores New York, which opened 18 months ago, and Penthouse Executive Club, which has been in existence for eight years.
As of the filing of the application, Starlight is reportedly still negotiating with the Taj Mahal, but the details of the planned club are laid out in the application, and is imagined as being similar to the Scores New York club. The physical location will be in the former Stage Deli space, on the second level of the Taj Mahal, taking up approximately 9,800 square feet of inside space with an adjacent outdoor patio area of about 5,400 square feet.
“It will be a richly furnished, first class, exceptional facility consistent with the Scores brand,” reads the application. “A significant admission fee and dress code for patrons will be enforced. However, unlike the New York facility, the Atlantic City operation will not include a restaurant, and the entertainment offered will be only as permitted by the rules and regulations of the New Jersey licensing and regulatory authorities.”
In fact, the differences will be significant. New York allows topless dancing in adult entertainment clubs, but New Jersey does not in any business dispensing alcohol. To comply with the law, the application states, “Entertainers start their performance in an evening gown, and by the end of the dance, generally will be clothed in a g-string or thong bottom and pasties.”
Lap dances will be allowed, but within clear parameters that include the same clothing restrictions as dancers on stage, and prohibit patrons from touching the dancers other than to put money in “a garter worn by the dancer. Entertainers are permitted to tastefully touch patrons as part of the table dance routine, but only with their hands, only in passing, and only on their shoulders, arms, neck and head.”
According to pressofatlanticcity.com, “Starlight expects to create 80 to 100 full-time jobs for hosts, bartenders and service staff, as well as 150 to 200 contracting jobs for entertainers and DJs.”
A timeline for a decision by the commission is unknown, but a Starlight attorney said the project would require about six months and $3 million worth of construction before the club would be ready to open.
A copy of the application can be read here.
