Club 77’s Sunday event was forced to close due to compliance with licensing conditions

A major Sydney nightclub, which has received government subsidies and been praised by Night Economy Minister John Graham, says it was forced to close on Sunday in response to repeated police harassment over its licensing conditions.

However, police have said they are also investigating a report of a serious violent incident at the venue, Club 77, a nighttime destination on William Street in Darlinghurst for the past 25 years.

On August 25, it started a new weekly party that ran from 6 a.m. Sunday to 4 a.m. Monday, billed as an “after-hours experience for the industry, hospo workers and the community” that would fill a gap in the market and help it taking Sydney’s nightlife to the next level. line with other world cities.

But six weeks later the venue canceled the event after what it described as a campaign of “continued harassment and intimidation” by Kings Cross police. “It’s just been non-stop,” said licensee Dane Gorrel, who said police were “extremely negative and dismissive” about the event when Club 77 told them their plans before the events started.

Since then, he said, the venue has been under “constant pressure”, including on a recent evening when 13 officers and a dog patrolled the club at a time. “There was literally one police officer for every twelve square feet of floor space,” Gorrel said.

On Monday, Gorrel received an email – seen by the Herald – from Senior Constable Robert Flook of Kings Cross Police Licensing Unit, who advised him that police were investigating possible breaches.

The email stated that Flook was investigating whether there were more than 20 people queuing outside the venue after 2am, whether there were more than two people queuing next to each other, whether the club’s pass-out system was working properly and whether that was the case. open longer than allowed.

Police also demanded Gorrel hand over data including receipt books and point of sale records of all sales over the past six weeks, including drinks and tickets, as well as incident logs and hours of CCTV footage from the past three weekends.

While Gorrel said there had been no incidents at the location, NSW Police said late on Friday they were investigating “a report of a serious violent incident” that occurred in late August. “The investigation also addresses related licensing issues.”