What goes on at the Hustler Club may amount to one heck of a performance — but it’s not art.
That was the conclusion of a Manhattan judge, who listened — and watched — as female strippers testified about the agility required for their risqué routines in an effort by their employers to skirt sales tax through a state law loophole.
“The service provided by the entertainers at the Hustler Club is sexual fantasy, not dance,” administrative law judge Donna Gardiner ruled recently from Albany, ordering the West 51st Street jiggle joint to fork over $2.1 million in back taxes.
An obscure state tax law waives fees for “live dramatic, choreographic or musical performance.”
But Judge Gardiner was apparently not amused by exotic dancer Gina, who “discussed the agility required in order to perform her routine” or by stripper Dawn, who “testified as to the actual movements performed by entertainers on the pole.”
MaDonna Grimes, a professional dancer and former Miss Fitness America, also testified, as an expert witness for the flesh emporium, after spending several weeks watching the Hustler women work the poles.
“They usually go upside down immediately, or they climb to the top of the pole and they slide all the way back down to the floor,” Grimes told The Post, repeating the testimony she gave to Judge Gardiner in January 2013.
“They hold themselves with their legs only and no hands. All these tricks have names – upside down straddle, backspin split, devil’s drop,” she explained.
“There’s no way you can’t have any skills, any athletic ability, any creativeness to do this,” said Grimes, who is also a pole dancing instructor.
Still, Gardiner found in her Jan. 30 decision for the state’s Tax Appeals Tribunal, “This case involves charges for admission into a place of amusement, plain and simple.”
“This adult entertainment establishment provides a service to its patrons that essentially boils down to performers who remove their clothing and create an aura of sexual fantasy,” Gardiner added.
Owners of the Hustler Club tried to duck sales and use taxes on $23.8 million in receipts from June 2006 to November 2008, derived from vouchers called “Beaver Bucks” that are used by patrons instead of cash.
The owners also hired a videographer to capture PG-rated versions of their entertainment — with four women fully clothed performing Cirque du Soleil-type feats while the club was closed.
“We didn’t have the entertainers take their tops off,” Hustler Club attorney Bradley Shafer told The Post.
“If any rational person were to see the video tape I think you would see that this takes a heck of a lot of skill and talent,” Shafer added.
The judge, likely the envy of her male colleagues, scrutinized the footage as evidence in the case.
Shafer said his clients will decide whether to appeal by next week.