NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Just days after being shut down by the State Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, 3 Bourbon Street strip clubs are being allowed to re-open.
Orleans Civil Court Judge Regina Woods has issued a temporary restraining order allowing The Mansion on Bourbon, Centerfolds, and Lipstixx, to resume selling alcohol only 24 hours after the ATC issued emergency suspensions to them.
All three clubs had their licenses suspended after ATC investigators say that they found incidents of prostitution and illegal drug sales at all three establishments.
ATC Commissioner Troy Hebert said this about Thursday’s restraining order, “New Orleans is going to have to make a decision — does it want law and order or does it want to be like the Wild Wild West? Citizens across the state entrust ATC and our law enforcement partners to make the French Quarter a safer place.”
Another hearing on the strip clubs’ lawsuit will be held next week in Orleans Civil District Court.