Scores (strip club)

Scores is a strip club in Manhattan, New York City, and is one of several gentlemen's clubs which changed the face of adult entertainment in that city during the early 1990s and has gained wider notoriety and popularity mostly due to frequent mention by Howard Stern.

Competition, history, publicity

Similar clubs that opened during this period include Flashdancers and Goldfinger's. Scores followed suit, opening as a venue run by businessmen from Denver and Texas. Later, it was taken over by New Yorkers and became at one point embroiled in controversy over alleged Mafia connections. Scores has attracted a lot of publicity due to comping a lot of free visits to Howard Stern, who often mentioned the club on his radio show, along with attracting a fair amount of celebrity guests. The somewhat lesser known but earlier established Flashdancers actually holds claim though of being NYC's first "table dancer" club, begun in 1991 with the consulting help of Centerfold Stars (BookCenterfolds talent agency). These clubs, along with Tens (formerly Stringfellows) are considered to be "gentrifying" clubs; displacing the old B-girl hustle bar in Manhattan with lavish adult nightclubs.

On the August 16, 2007 Sirius radio broadcast of The Howard Stern Show, spokesman Lonnie Hanover called in to reveal that he had resigned his publicity and promotions position at Scores after 15 years. Hanover stated that he did not agree with some "recent changes" and has decided to "face some new challenges and maybe do it somewhere else," and added, "I'm still in love with big boobs, real or fake." [ [http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?j=n&d=1187150400 Howard Stern.com ] ] . On the February 6, 2008 broadcast of the Stern show, Lonnie Hanover reported that he would be moving to [http://www.ricks.com Ricks Cabaret] in New York.

On August 19, 2007, it was widely reported that the current Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, had visited Scores in September 2003 with "New York Post" editor Col Allan and Labor backbencher Warren Snowdon. At the time, Rudd was the Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman and did not have a "completely clear recollection" of the visit, stating he had "drunk a fair bit". The revelation did not have an adverse effect on his standing in the opinion polls but he distanced himself from the event none-the-less. [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/08/20/2007-08-20_its_page_sex_.html Post editor led clean-cut pol on strip night of shame - TV ] ]

Popular culture

*On an episode of "Saturday Night Live's" Weekend Update, anchor Tina Fey, upon reporting that former writer and castmember Al Franken was considering a run for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Minnesota, stated that if he were to win the seat, "he would be the "first SNL alum to hold office since last year, when Tracy Morgan declared himself to be the 'Mayor of Scores'."
*In the movie "Rounders", which is set in New York City, Scores is briefly mentioned.
*In the movie "I Think I Love My Wife", Steve Buscemi's character briefly mentions Scores.

Alleged tax evasion

In February 2006 a Manhattan grand jury returned tax evasion indictments against two Scores executives and a bookkeeper. Manhattan's District Attorney said that an investigation into customers' complaints of overcharging revealed a scheme by Scores' managers involving shell companies, the pressuring of some strippers into giving kickbacks [ [http://www.nypost.com/seven/07062008/news/regionalnews/confessions_of_an_ex_scores_stripper_118739.htm?page=0 New York Post - Confessions of an ex Scores Stripper] ] , and the falsification of income tax returns.

References

External links

* [http://www.scoresholding.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.lvscores.com/ Official Las Vegas Scores Website]
* [http://scores1.webair.com/mpa3/hit.php?s=1&p=&w=100006&t=0&c=49 Official Scores Live Webcam Chat]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Strip-club-visit-a-foolish-mistake-Rudd/2007/08/19/1187462052057.html Rudd blames Downer for strip club story]