After being seized by authorities earlier this week for owing roughly $360,000 in taxes, New York club Verboten has now filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and has been allowed to operate at full capacity again.
The venue’s owners, Jen Schiffer and John Perez, filed on Thursday evening, which means that for the time being at least, Verboten is allowed to stay open while they attempt to restructure their financial situation.
“Chapter 11 allows us to protect and consolidate our assets so we can operate this club with good partners, have successful events, bring in patrons, and move forward without being tortured, harassed and bled dry by a small number of our investors,” Schiffer told THUMP over the phone this afternoon. “We have every intention to keep working with the state.”
According to Schiffer, the seizure was unexpected, as they’d been having “ongoing negotiations” with the state in regards to coming up with some kind of payment plan. She also claims that officials treated her like a “nightlife gangster” when they came to seize the business.
Whatever the future may ultimately hold in store for Verboten, it will remain open for now and Matthew Dear’s birthday set will still go on as planned tonight.
“The club is my baby,” Schiffer told THUMP. “I invested my life savings and worked for ten years to get it open. [Reopening] it open today and being able to throw Matthew Dear’s birthday tomorrow is amazing. It’s been a fight and it feels amazing.”