Drakopoulos said his Bronx club, next to the Major Deegan Expressway, has made the community a better place by illuminating the block and planting trees on the desolate street.“We took a concrete, deserted neighborhood and brought life to it,” he said. “There were weeds 5 feet high, car parts and tires everywhere.”
He said he’s within his legal rights to open a nude club that could accommodate 18-year-old patrons if the community board interferes with his liquor license application.
“I’m not in the pizza business, I’m in the adult nightclub business,” said Drakopoulos. “We have a right to open there.”
The proposed club, located at the 21st St. exit ramp for the bridge, is two blocks from the Queensbridge Houses, near thousands of new residential units, several office buildings and around the corner from Silvercup Studios.
CUNY Law School also recently announced plans to move to the immediate area.
Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan said she would contact the city Landmarks Preservation Commission and ask that the proposed strip club building at 42-50 21st St. be considered for its historical value so that Drakopoulos could not alter it into a nightclub.
“Our community needs an arts center,” said Nolan. “We don’t need threats from an unscrupulous business owner.”
Cathy Nolan is a disgrace, and strong-arming a business using the Landmarks Preservation Commission is ludicrous on so many levels. Just for the record, that piece of crap in the picture with the double blue door is the “landmark” that Nolan wants preserved.