The State Liquor Authority is finally shutting down a trendy but troubled Chelsea nightclub following allegations that an ex-con bouncer raped a drunken woman in one of its bathroom stalls.
A three-member panel yesterday voted to close Club Duvet, a k a Club Climax, following charges that Hunter Dupree, 33, attacked a 23-year-old patron there on Oct. 25.
The club should never have hired Dupree, who, having served more than three years in prison on a weapons charge, was not legally permitted to work as a bouncer, sources said.
The club, at 45 W. 21st St., had been hit with numerous SLA violations but stayed open through a quirk in state law — even after its liquor license was not renewed in November 2004.
Cops were summoned to the club 42 times in the past two years, including a Jan. 21, 2009, incident in which a female patron reported being robbed at gunpoint, records show.
The club’s lawyer did not return a phone call for comment.