It was right out of the script of the popular movie, “The Full Monty.”
Fliers were being posted about town, boldly promoting an all-male strip tease act that was scheduled to feature men stripping down to the bare facts.
In this case, the promotional fliers weren’t featured in Sheffield, England, but rather Guttenberg, N.J.
And there’s a problem with that. A local Guttenberg ordinance prohibits any nude dancing of any kind, male or female. So the show that was being promoted was essentially a no-no.
Lt. Joseph Gryzbowski received a tip about the fliers being distributed around Guttenberg. The fliers featured a picture of a man dancing in a G-string.
“The fliers were in Spanish and said that there was going to be an all-male strip tease show on Sept. 22, between 10 and 11:30 p.m.,” Gryzbowski said. “And we thought that the strippers were going to strip down to nothing. That’s how we found out about it, from the fliers.”
The show was set to take place at Cosmos 2000, located on 70th and Jackson Streets.
But the show was advertised as being strictly for females only, so to investigate whether lewd behavior was taking place, the Guttenberg police department had to borrow two female detectives from another neighboring police department, because Guttenberg does not have any female officers. Officials would not reveal which town the women came from.
The two undercover officers went to Cosmos to check out the show and found approximately 50 women in attendance. The officers then conducted a raid, putting an immediate end to the show.
However, there wasn’t a hint of getting down to “The Full Monty.”
“They were only stripping down to their jock strap or G-strings,” Gryzbowski said.
Phooey!
Call it a case of false advertising.
Since the female officers did not witness any lewd behavior, no charges were filed for the dancing.
But the owner of the club, Oscar Cantillo, was issued a few summonses. Cantillo received a summons for violating the ordinance that prohibits live entertainment at a local bar. He was also charged with a violation of a fire code.
“They had a roll-down steel door in the back, covering the back exit,” Gryzbowski said. “And the door was padlocked.”
There were also violations of local Alcohol Beverage Control rules, when officers found that a bartender and a security officer did not have a proper license and there was no proper ABC license on the premises. “Those charges are under ABC laws and it’s up to the town ABC board to rule on those charges,” Gryzbowski said.
It was unsure whether the business would be forced to close for any period of time because of the charges. Gryzbowski said that the owner came to the Guttenberg police station on Monday to answer the charges. “He said that he was totally unaware that he was not allowed to have live entertainment,” Gryzbowski said. It was not known whether he could leave his hat on.