Greenfield’s Board of License Commissioners has ordered the Easy Street Nightclub to remain closed through this holiday weekend – a traditionally busy time for Western Massachusetts eating and drinking establishments – after a series of recent problems, including the arrest of a co-owner of the nightclub on drug charges last month.
Bar owner Ivan Tristan was arrested in November on cocaine and other charges. The day after his arrest, town officials closed Easy Street for eight days, citing safety-code violations at the Fiske Avenue club, according to a report by the Greenfield Recorder.
On Tuesday, the Board of License Commissioners again ordered the bar to close, yanking the club’s liquor license for 10 days – three of which must be served immediately. The remaining seven days were deferred, The Recorder reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear what specifically triggered this week’s closure, but club manager and co-owner Ananda Larson last month agreed to correct the safety issues.
William B. Allen, chairman of the Board of License Commissioners, told 22News that even though Tristan is no longer involved with the bar, Larson is still responsible for the violations.
Tristan denied the drug charges at his arraignment last month in Greenfield District Court. Greenfield Police Detective Kevin Rowell said Tristan was the subject of a five-month investigation into illicit drug activity at the club.
