Club Blu: should police shut it down?

[grock]

According to a report on Channel 3 at noon, there was a shooting outside Club Blu on Ann Street last night. This is the second one this year and third in year and a half.

Should Mayor Perez take action and get this place shut down? It is surrounded by a church, and nice restaurants and bars and the Civic Center. It used to be nice when it was RUssian Lady.

[ctman987]

No, absolutly not. Club Blu draws people to the city. It draws young people into the city. If it were to be shut down it would just add another vacant space to the downtown area because there is no way the city is automatically going to be able to fin another tenant for the space.

In Providence they are dealing with Club Diesal which has had violent incidents happen at the club. This has been going on for months and the city has seeked to close the club but didnt have enough evidence to do so. Now though owners of a Boston nightclub want to buy the club.

Personally lets not be picky...right now. Its a big gamble and despite all the new openings of places downtown, we have lost places or have places in transition/renovation ....Pasti's, Coach's, No Fish Today

[grock]

Something needs to be done there.

Other bars are attracting young people to the city; young people who don't bring guns into the city.

Blu is trouble.

[Luca Brasi]

I'm all for bringing people into the city, but at what cost? And how does this affect surrounding businesses? Or the image of downtown? Hartford doesn't need this. Who wants to go out for a good time and have to worry about violence? Its not an isolated incident either, this is the third time in a year. All these incidents of violence have happened on Blu's Sunday night.

[ctman987]

It was reported that this was a drive by shooting of a women...did she know who shot her or was this random?

Also if memory serves me correct the last incident involved people who knew each other who got into an argument

[HartfordTycoon]

I'm all for bringing people into the city, but at what cost? And how does this affect surrounding businesses? Or the image of downtown? Hartford doesn't need this. Who wants to go out for a good time and have to worry about violence? Its not an isolated incident either, this is the third time in a year. All these incidents of violence have happened on Blu's Sunday night.

That's the only night I'd step foot in the place. If they shut it down that's too bad. It's not perfect, but I say it's far from endemic. I love Sundays at Blu although I haven't gone in a while. Look we all know that Hip Hop is urban music and brings with it an urban element. However 99% of Club patrons are not causing problems or violence including that same urban element. You can't punish everyone, myself and all of my friends included for the actions of a few individuals. At least it doesn't make sense to me to do so. I mean it's not like fights break out every week and a few incidents over the course of over a year do not make a small problem into a major issue. You can't shut downtown off to my demographic and I feel like I deserve a safe place to go to the club. I consider Blu safe and have never had any issues there.

[Luca Brasi]

A few incidents?? People have been shot and killed. Blu is not safe on Sundays no matter what spin you put on it. A friend of mine used to manage there, and he hated it because he never felt safe. Fights break out all the time. But you have to draw the line with 3 people getting shot in the last year including an innocent bystander last night. There is definitely a problem. Guns and or violence should have NO part in nightlife anywhere. Its completely unacceptable.

I'm not saying shut downtown off to the hip hop demographic by any means Tycoon. There are other clubs who do hip hop and do it properly. Blu obviously has a problem controlling the Sunday night crowd. Any club whether hip hop, techno, biker, etc. that attracts a bad element and violence should be shut down.

[ctman987]

If we are talking about the issues at city bars/clubs I can almost guarantee you that city bars and clubs let in underage people and let them drink because they have fake id's or because the establishments do not card. I personally have never been to a Hartford bar but as a student in NYC I can right off the bat tell you that there are numerous establishments in NYC and the other boroughs that sadly let individuals in without proper id to drink...not just party.

[grock]

The guy charged with firing the gun is 28.

The victim is 22.

[ctman987]

What I am talking about is something unrelated to these shootings but does directly relate to every club and bar in the city. I am pretty sure that many clubs, bars and even restaurants make money from underage individuals who somehow get there hands on alcoholic beverages

[HartfordTycoon]

A few incidents?? People have been shot and killed. Blu is not safe on Sundays no matter what spin you put on it. A friend of mine used to manage there, and he hated it because he never felt safe. Fights break out all the time. But you have to draw the line with 3 people getting shot in the last year including an innocent bystander last night. There is definitely a problem. Guns and or violence should have NO part in nightlife anywhere. Its completely unacceptable.

I'm not saying shut downtown off to the hip hop demographic by any means Tycoon. There are other clubs who do hip hop and do it properly. Blu obviously has a problem controlling the Sunday night crowd. Any club whether hip hop, techno, biker, etc. that attracts a bad element and violence should be shut down.

I do agree to a point. Maybe my threshold is higher, but I do agree that if the place can't control their crowds something needs to be done. There are other clubs with far less problems that cater to the same market and that does certainly say something.

[jcrc]

I do agree to a point. Maybe my threshold is higher, but I do agree that if the place can't control their crowds something needs to be done. There are other clubs with far less problems that cater to the same market and that does certainly say something.

I think your threshold for bullets is as high as anyone else, but your threshold for risk is higher. I guess it's a matter of to each his own. However any shooting, any crime for that matter, is bad for us all and all clubs should everything to prevent fighting and shooting. Clue Blu for example can have the city block off car traffic on Ann Street and have more police on hand to prevent violence. If they don't do anything about it or just don't care, then I would be glad if they are shut down.