A Gramercy Park bar boss is allegedly burning his own business to the ground by allowing live sex shows and brazen drug use at the bar — which he has literally set on fire, his partner contends in a lawsuit.
Albert Trummer’s allegedly “ruinous” behavior at D.O.M., a high-end cocktail lounge on Park Avenue South he co-owns with Arndt Oesterle, apparently involved staging “intercourse and other sex acts between a ‘professional’ couple,’” according to Oesterle’s Manhattan Supreme Court filing against Trummer.
The antics have been captured on “hours of shocking video footage,” Oesterle claims in legal papers.
Alleged screenshots from a video purportedly showing drug use at D.O.M., according to the lawsuit. Obtained by The New York Post
Trummer’s son Jakob, a D.O.M. bartender, has been “recorded on D.O.M.’s closed circuit cameras participating in the use of illegal drugs — including what appears to be cocaine — out in the open at the bar during business hours,” Oesterle alleged in the legal filing.
A series of images included in court records show three unidentified men at the bar, while one holds his cupped hand up to his nose.
It’s unclear what the substance might be or when the incident occurred.
The elder Trummer has also run afoul of city fire codes “in an apparent attempt to impress patrons” by overseeing Jakob “as he spread flammable liquor across the bar at D.O.M. and set it on fire,” Oesterle claimed. Trummer is no stranger to pyrotechnics: he was arrested in 2010 when he apparently pulled a similar stunt at the Chinatown club Apotheke.
Oesterle said he’s sunk more than $1.6 million into D.O.M. while Trummer’s not put in a penny — yet uses the biz as his “personal piggy bank,” taking thousands to pay for his apartment and for European trips.
He’s failed to pay the rent, issued dozens of bum checks and has refused to give Oesterle access to the bar’s books, according to the litigation.
Trummer was arrested in 2010 when he apparently pulled a similar stunt at the Chinatown club Apotheke, according to reports.
J. Messerschmidt/NY Post
Trummer allegedly oversaw a “live sex show” inside D.O.M., according to court papers. J. Messerschmidt/NY Post
Trummer denied the allegations and claimed Oesterle isn’t his partner, but simply and investor who is trying to take over the business.
“There’s no sex shows. We’re not The Box,” he said, referring to the notorious Nolita burlesque club. “I think it’s really without merit.”
Source link: https://nypost.com/2024/06/01/us-news/nyc-bar-owner-oversaw-live-sex-show-allowed-drug-use-lawsuit/