Smithtown keeps open option of seizing topless bar 

Smithtown officials have authorized a condemnation appraisal of a topless bar in operation for decades across from the town’s iconic bull statue on West Main Street. 

The move, authorized by a 5-0 vote by the Town Board at its Jan. 23 meeting, is necessary for the town to use its powers of eminent domain to seize the Oasis Gentlemen’s Club, though lawyers for the town and the bar both said last week that talks about a town purchase of the club were ongoing. 

“It’s not a threat,” town attorney Matthew Jakubowski said of the appraisal. “I have to look into different options that are available to the town.”

Smithtown Deputy Supervisor Thomas McCarthy said last spring that bar management had “shown an interest in selling to us.” Town officials hoped to use the land for kayak launching and possibly a visitors’ center, he said at the time.

But Jakubowski said the last meeting between the two sides — about two weeks ago — “wasn’t productive.” He declined to give specifics, but said a “significant amount” separates management’s asking price and what town officials are prepared to pay. 

That contradicted Howard Greenberg, a Smithtown-based lawyer for the bar, who said “our numbers are not that far off,” while also declining to give specifics. Greenberg said that assessment needed to include “rental income, business income, the property value aspect.”

The town commissioned an appraisal last year as part of purchase talks. Jakubowski did not share its results, but said it was tied to comparable sales. A condemnation appraisal based on the property’s “highest and best use” generally results in higher valuation, he said. 

Glenn Gruder, an East Meadow-based lawyer with the Certilman Balin firm specializing in commercial litigation who is not involved in the negotiations, said the town would likely succeed in a condemnation action. “So long as you express a valid public purpose, such as expansion of a park or protection of a river corridor, it’s almost impossible to have a condemnation thrown out,” he said. 

A condemnation appraisal in this case might use a multiple of the bar’s yearly income. “At the end of the day,” Gruder said, “they’re probably going to get a pretty penny.” 

The property last sold in 1996 for $300,000, according to records. 

Smithtown officials and civic leaders tend to view the site, which has been used for adult entertainment since 1979, as an embarrassment. McCarthy, in an interview last year, called it a blight; Kristen Slevin, a former candidate for town supervisor, ran on a platform that included moving the bull away from the bar. 

Town code limits adult businesses to industrial and shopping center business zones, and a town summons carrying a fine of up to $5,000 is pending against the bar for operating illegally outside of those zones. 

Greenberg said that the bar is a "perfectly legal business" with First Amendment protections, and that it remains open. “We’re working cooperatively with the town in a joint effort to resolve the issues,” he said.