POLL: Time for Heartbreakers To Go?

Heartbreakers go-go bar on Bloomfield Avenue is once again the subject of scrutiny after .

According to neighbors and witnesses, a fight that began in the bar spilled out into the street, resulting in a man being thrown through the plate glass window of the supermarket next door.

The incident, which took place on June 28, was about the fifteenth reported police incident associated with Heartbreakers in the space of a year or so.  The complaints generally have involved violence and disorderly behavior, such as last August when a man who had been kicked out of the club allegedly ran to a nearby diner and returned weilding a nine-inch kitchen knife.

On May 13, Heartbreakers owner Jimmy Corrao stood before the town council to explain the unusually high number of police calls to his club.  He said he was doing everything he could to prevent trouble.

“Believe me, I try hard,” he said. "I run a tight ship."

Only days later, on May 17, that started in the bar and continued outside on the street.  Later in the month, on May 28, a Heartbreakers customer was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly beating up a dancer in a sex-related incident.

In an effort to explain the behavior of his patrons, an apparently puzzled Corrao had told the town council two weeks earlier, “I’m seeing people getting off the buses -- I don’t know where they’re coming from --and they’re half loaded [by the time they arrive at the club].”

Many Patch readers have expressed concern about Heartbreakers’ proximity to the downtown shopping district and family-friendly businesses like the State Street Diner, Market Fresh supermarket and the Family Buffet Restaurant.  Some people say they even fear for the personal safety of town residents.

“There was already a shooting at Heartbreakers in 2009, and the resulting car chase killed one of the passengers fleeing the scene,” wrote one Patch reader. “I really don't see how they can let this continue. Is it going to take another shooting?. . . How long before something really bad happens at Heartbreakers?  Thats when officials will rush to say, ‘We should have shut them down a long time ago’.” 

Another concern for residents is how a “go-go bar” can coexist with the planned upgrade of the town center.

“You want to change the demographics in bloomfield?, then this strip club needs to go. You will not attract a Whole Foods or Trader Joes to Bloomfield Center with Heartbreakers across the street!!” wrote one Patch commenter.

Another said, “There is no way big named stores are going want to come here with this going on,” while a third said, “Going into the food store you have to put up with harrassment from Heartbreaker's customers asking for dollar bills and watch the strippers getting picked up. Nice image for a town that is trying to revitalize.”

Patch spoke to Mayor Raymond McCarthy and Councilman Bernard Hamilton about the issue after a town council meeting in May.  The previous week both had given Corrao a stern warning that the police incidents would have to stop or he would lose his license.  In fact, the incidents did not stop after that; in May and June they escalated.

“The problem is that [Heartbreakers has] been there for the last 15, 20 years.  You can’t just move them,” said McCarthy at the time. “We certainly don’t want it, especially with the new redevelopment.”

“They have a right to be there,” concurred Hamilton, calling the bar “an established business.” 

“The [operating] licenses come through the state,” said McCarthy.  “The state has the last word on penalties.”

McCarthy and Hamilton’s remarks preceded some of the incidents that occurred later that month and in June.  Since then, however, the bar has remained open.

“These are common things that happen in any town, in any bar,” insisted Heartbreakers manager Bob James, who spoke with Patch on June 29, the day after window-breaking incident.  “[A man] gets drunk, he gets thrown out or whatever, the police come.  It happens everywhere.”

He added that, although “somebody got hurt,” he doesn’t feel that Heartbreakers puts the community in danger. 

What do YOU think?  Take our Patch poll and say what you think in the comments.

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