Felt

The Boston Licensing Board today rejected a request from the owners of the troubled Felt nightclub to restore its liquor license so they can sell it to the proposed operator of a supper club in the Washington Street location.

The owners of Felt, closed for the past 18 months due to licensing, tax and business issues, today asked the Boston Licensing Board to reinstate its liquor license.

Attorney Mark Zuroff, who represents the last known group of owners, said the sole reason would be so that they could sell the license to a new operator who wants to convert the Washington Street space into a fancy supper club called the Adams House - an homage to a restaurant that once operated there. "None of the prior management or ownership will be involved," he pledged. "We're not trying to resurrect the current operation."

Residents, neighboring businesses, Suffolk University and Boston Police, however, were having none of it, saying the neighborhood is changing, that they have enjoyed 18 months of violence- and noise-free weekend nights, rather than being awakened at 2 a.m. by hundreds of people exiting the club and that they did not buy Zuroff's promises of a troublefree new restaurant.

The owners of a Washington Street building that has been home to a restaurant or nightclub for decades say they have at least five serious potential operators who want to replace Felt, shut by state authorities earlier this year when they discovered the people running the club were not the same people listed as its owners.

Felt on Washington Street and Caprice on Tremont Street had to explain themselves to the Boston Licensing Board today over brawls involving women.

In Felt's case, board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer told bar owners they need to get a handle on why they keep having trouble with women; in Caprice's case, managers had to listen as police described a large brawl that saw women taking off their shoes and forming a fighting ring in the parking lot next door.

Boston Police report arresting two men they say showed up at Felt on Washington Street with a loaded gun - then headed over to Chinatown for an early morning bite.

Police say officers were monitoring Felt at closing time today due to online chatter indicating a potential for violence:

Felt in the light of day.The Boston Licensing Board held hearings today on two incidents involving women getting beaten up at Felt, although neither its owners nor its lawyer attended the session.

Instead, the club was represented by a manager who'd only been on the job for a week - after he was rehired after he quit earlier this year.

"This is not helpful," board Chairman Michael Connolly said. Also, although the last time the club was before the board, it said it was looking to sell its license - which was one of its arguments for asking for leniency then - the owners have decided to reorganize and keep the club open under the old/new manager.

In contrast to club officials, Boston Police detectives did attend.

Felt, scene of a scuffle-turned-double-stabbing over the weekend, was up before the Boston Licensing Board for an April 9 incident in which club goers continued their partying after hours in the parking lot across the street.

Dennis Quilty, lawyer for the club, said its owners have fired the manager on duty at the time for the lapse and that, in any event, they are now in the process of trying to sell the club.

Boston Police report two stabbings and three arrests outside Felt, 533 Washington St., around 1:30 a.m. today.

According to police, bouncers escorted two groups of men outside after a scuffle. One group, consisting of three men, then set upon the other two guys, who wound up getting stabbed, police say.

Santiago Hernandez, 29, of Roxbury, Luis A. Alicea, 23, of Hyde Park, and William R. Sanjurjo, 22, of Dorchester were all arrested and charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The two victims were taken to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.

Innocent, etc.

Remember the guy charged with raping an unconscious woman in a men's room at Felt in January? Seems the evidence against Nicholas Chiaraluce didn't hold up. The Suffolk County District Attorney's office today announced it's dropping the charge:

In the course of the Grand Jury investigation that followed, prosecutors obtained the sworn testimony of individuals present in the club and its men's room during the early morning hours of Jan. 19, including individuals with no connection to the 21-year-old victim or the defendant. In light of that testimony, and after a review of all relevant Massachusetts law, prosecutors determined would not be able to meet their burden of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Attorney: ’These charges were outrageous’.

UPDATE: Charge dropped.

Nicholas Chiaraluce, 21, of Woburn, is expected to be arraigned this morning in Boston Municipal Court on a count of aggravated rape, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. Prosecutors will allege he raped an unconscious woman in a restroom at Felt, 533 Washington St. late Friday or early Saturday. He was released Saturday on $50,000 bail.