The unexpected apology from Peter Gatien, the unexpected “king of clubs” of the Big Apple, to Peter Gatien was an “unexpected” surprise that made some shake their heads after his deportation 20 years ago, Side Dish has learned.
Ariel Palitz toasted Gatien, now 70, in the course of the height of Manhattan nightlife and lamented the cruel deal that forced the eyepatch sports club magnate into exile after pleading guilty to tax evasion in 1999 .
“When the hammer fell, Peter had 4 of the largest clubs ever,” Palitz told Side Dish. “We felt it was very unfair and excessive as he was acquitted of the costs against him and deported after paying compensation, ruining his life and popularity. We recognize that this was an injustice.”
Palitz’s remorse got here despite Gatien’s clubs gaining a popularity as crime and drug-filled hotbeds of sin – where the scene was described as “Caligula with music”.
The lawlessness hit all-time low in 1996 when “Club Kid” Michael Alig, who worked for Gatien at Limelight, and Robert “Freeze” Riggs beat to death and dismembered Angel Melendez, a small-time drug dealer to whom Alig owed money.
Gatien ruled town’s night scene within the 80s and 90s because the owner of 4 of the largest clubs – Limelight, Palladium, The Tunnel and ClubUSA.
Its dance palaces have displaced Studio 54 because the epicenter of the bridge and tunnel crowd to fulfill the “Brilliant Lights, Big City” moves and shakers in a non-stop orgy of drugs, dance and debauchery.
However the music abruptly died down after then-mayor Rudy Giuliani went after Gatien as part of a campaign to purge town of criminal behavior rampant in its nightclubs after Alig’s brutal murder.
![Peter Gatien pictured in 1984 in his office at the Limelight nightclub.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010554725.jpg?w=967)
![Peter Gatien](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010554721.jpg?w=711)
In 1998, Gatien was charged with racketeering and conspiracy after he was accused of selling Ecstasy to clubbers, many of whom were minors. Gatien was acquitted of these charges, but couldn’t beat rap for tax evasion in 1999 and was sent to his native Canada in 2003.
A former worker of one of Gatien’s clubs was stunned by Palitz’s olive branch for Gatien during a two-week summit attended by club owners and nightclub representatives from Washington, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Austin, Texas, Orlando, Pittsburgh and even Bogota, Columbia.
“Why the hell did she apologize?” a source told Side Dish. “Clubs were drug dens.”
![Ariel Palitz](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010096297.jpg?w=1024)
Gatien, who ruled the clubs in his pirate eyepatch after losing his left eye in a childhood accident while playing tadpoles, never denied that drugs were commonplace in his clubs.
“There was drugs within the clubs, similar to there have been drugs in Madison Square Garden, but they never shut down the Garden,” Side Dish told Side Dish.
Palitz, a former Lower East Side bar owner appointed five years ago by Mayor Bill de Blasio, said she spoke on the summit as a member of the nightclub community, not in an official capability. She recently announced that she was stepping down from the role.
“Look how far we have come for the reason that infamous ’90s.” Palitz said. “If there had been a nightlife office back then, there would have been more justice. Giuliani considered us enemies of the state.”
![Brooke Shields celebrates her 21st birthday at the Palladium in 1986.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010554938.jpg?w=1024)
![Madonna at the Palladium in 1985.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010554936.jpg?w=805)
Richie Romero, a veteran nightlife and restaurateur who began as a 16-year-old party promoter for Gatien within the early Nineties and who spoke at the highest, called Gatien “a pioneer turned unfair goal” by Giuliani.
He said the racketeering accusations made no sense.
“As a club owner, he made his money from admissions and bars, not from drug dealers,” said Romero.
Gatien’s 4 clubs drew between 12,000 and 14,000 people on Friday and Saturday nights, Romero said.
Gatien said Palitz’s “unexpected” apology was a welcome gesture.
“It was very nice to listen to that. I’m not obsessive about it, but when Giuliani’s name got here up, there’s some karma in it,” he told Side Dish. “The situation has definitely turned around. He was definitely the force behind my demise. Town was relentless and mainly bankrupted me. Once I was acquitted of all charges, I assumed in my naivety that they would go away me alone.”
![Michael Alig pictured in 2015.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010555181.jpg?w=1024)
As a substitute, Guiliani “held a press conference promising to shut us down,” Gatien said.
After being deported, Gatien opened a club in Toronto that didn’t survive and wrote a book. She is currently working on the series along with her daughter, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Gatien.
His daughter said Gatien’s legal problems proceed to haunt her father.
“He has to use for a special permit to enter the US and he has to indicate up 4 hours early on the airport – and he can still be refused entry since it’s on the discretion of US customs,” she said. he said.
![Gatien stands near one of the original Tiffany stained glass windows of the former church which has become the center of attention.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010554723.jpg?w=676)
![Gatien in 1983](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000010554713.jpg?w=823)
Romero tried to maintain some of Gatien’s legacy alive. One of his current hotspots is the Jue Lan Club partially of the previous Limelight space, where the “Forbidden Room” is devoted to Gatien.
On the partitions of the corridor resulting in the room hang photos from parties from the club’s heyday, including one with Gatien, Donald Trump and publicist John Carmen. Romero even got married at Gatien’s former office in Limelight last December.
“Peter has all the time been a legend to me. He created way more than Studio 54,” said Romero. “He created the 4 mega clubs and nightlife that everyone seems to be on the lookout for today.”
![Donald Trump with Peter Gatien (right) and columnist John Carmen.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/123_1.jpg?w=1024)
Romero said Gatien’s “genius” was in bringing people from all walks of life together and allowing them to precise themselves under one roof – long before they might share selfies on social media.
“Clubs were where music and fashion were broken. New York was a melting pot and folks were mixing,” Romero said. “The stage was greater than the DJs. New York was the king, and Peter was the “king of clubs.”