The SoHo club that played host to a bottle-service brawl between Chris Brown and Drake over Rihanna last summer is in a knock down, drag out legal fight with the State Liquor Authority.
The showdown will happen at the Manhattan Appellate Court on Dec. 21, when a judge will decide whether to suspend a lower court’s decision that canceled the nightclub’s liquor license and slapped it with a $20,000 fine.
W.i.P. Club owner Barry Mullineaux cried to the Appellate Court that “he’d be out of business,” and his 300 employees out of work, if the court didn’t give him a temporary restraining order on the cancellation.
An appellate judge granted that request and the club will remain open for at least another week.
If W.i.P. closed its doors, “New York will lose a bright night light in its entertainment crown,” Mullineaux said in court papers.
The liquor authority’s attorney shot back: “this establishment is a drain on police resources and a danger to the public health, welfare and safety,” according to the argument attorney Mark Frering made to the higher court on Dec. 11.
The liquor Authority turned off the spigot at W.i.P. shortly after the June booze brawl, only to have that ruling overturned by a judge in July. The sides have traded jabs in court ever since.
Club reps declined to comment on their upcoming bout.
The State Liquor Authority did not answer messages seeking comment.