Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, joining China Club as the second Times Square nightspot to seek financial protection this week.
China Club’s management has been pretty verbal about their money woes, claiming that job cuts at Lehman Brothers (which accounted for a large chunk of their customer base) was to blame for putting their already-slowing business deeper in the hole. Nightlife Enterprises LP (China Club) listed up to $10 million in assets and liabilities in Bankruptcy Court last Wednesday.
China Club has been a part of the NYC club circuit for over a decade. Management claims that the weak economy began to take its toll on the club in 2007, back when Cheetahs was just getting started. The China Club space is now playing host to BLDG NYC and may soon provide a new home for The Copacabana, depending on the outcome of their plea to the Community Board 5’s quality of life committee tomorrow.
In comparison, Cheetahs has had a much shorter run, but has gained some notoriety during its stay on W 43rd St. The club hosted a New Year’s Eve bash, which boasted “the only cash bar in Times Square” and is also known for combining sushi and strippers, making it the place “where the elite go to eat sashimi on naked women” (UrbanDaddy).
Now, facing bankruptcy, Cheetahs leaves us with a valuable lesson: no matter how many California rolls you serve off of a half-naked woman, the sunken economy just cannot be revived by New York nightlife.
