BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The attorney representing Bottoms Up and Venu wants to make it clear that his clients' business is a safe place for co-mingling and that there hasn’t been any violence at these two clubs.
This comes after Erie County Legislators tried to regulate co-mingling while they claim there has been an uptick in violence.
Attorney Jacob Piorkowski who represents Bottoms Up and Venu on Chippewa tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person the violence isn’t coming from those two clubs.
“We haven’t seen any specific allegations against Bottoms Up or Venu of incidents of violence or that they contribute to any way of violence on Chippewa,” he says.
Elected District Councilmember Darius Pridgen says Chippewa is the only area in the city that has to get the green light from the council to have an 18 to 20 years old party with those of age.
“This is a way of ensuring that the city has notification after having a few years in the Chippewa area of shootings and fights,” Pridgen says.
Pridgen says at the moment there’s a trial run happening with those two venues before the council gives a thumbs up to co-mingling permits.
The attorney says both businesses' main priority is to keep partygoers safe by having licensed security guards on site.
They also have strict procedures of not allowing anyone under 21 to drink alcohol.
“Only alcohol drinks can be served in cups, so anything non-alcohol has to be served in a bottle like soda or water would have to come in a bottle,” Attorney Piorkowski says. “So they can easily identify who’s consuming the alcohol and who’s not.”
Piorkowski says he and his clients are going to have a meeting Monday with city council members about the co-mingling applications they have pending for May and June.
