![]() On Monday night, a steady stream of men lined up at the bar to exchange bills of large denominations for thick stacks of dollar bills along with $275 bottles of Hennessy. Magic City is a hub of the billion-dollar hip-hop industry and a storied deal-making room where major league sports stars, rappers and R&B performers rub shoulders with local hip-hop wannabees, entrepreneurs, teachers and construction workers. Working the day shift from 3 to 9 p.m., Aries said she danced last week for Williams, a regular at the club who has a dish named after him: the “Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ wings.”Īfter placing an order with the Magic City kitchen, the high-scoring Clippers guard ambled around the club, Aries said, and she was one of a few dancers who performed for him, keeping a six-foot distance. “Working in this industry, there’s a whole lot of stigma, so it’s important to make sure everyone feels comfortable.” ![]() And she, in turn, was taking care to respect customers’ boundaries. She felt reassured that club management was proving diligent about checking the temperatures of customers and workers every day. Barely half an hour before, she had parted her legs as a man stood inches from her, brushing her crotch with dollar bills.Ī Southern California native who went to Atlanta four months ago from Chicago, Aries said that working in the pandemic was a challenge, but she needed a job and many customers were tired of being cooped up at home. “I’m keeping as much distance as possible,” Aries said as she leaned into a reporter. More than three-quarters of customers, and the vast majority of dancers, were not wearing masks - and it was impossible to chat over the bass beat without getting close. “Nasty but classy! Oww!” the Miami rap duo, City Girls, snarled through the sound system. But early in the evening, with barely more than 30 people in the room, patrons stood shoulder to shoulder as they huddled by the tiny Magic City Kitchen to order food and pick up to-go meals.Īs the DJ blasted out a rap soundtrack, dancers pressed closer to customers and customers pressed closer to dancers, whispering into their ears or grinding against them. On the carpet between the bar and the H-shaped stage illuminated with blue LED strip lights, a trail of stickers spaced six feet apart urged people to keep their distance. A giant plastic bottle of hand sanitizer sat at the edge of the bar, largely unused. Bartenders wore masks and one wore a face shield. There were some concessions to the deadly virus. No Plexiglass separated them from patrons. They did not wear surgical masks or nitrile gloves. “SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES MUST BE MAINTAINED.”Ī security guard stood outside the door, raising a digital thermometer to the forehead of anyone who entered.īut stepping into the windowless room, it was clear it did not have the air of a post-coronavirus strip club that might pass the protective standards of Dr. “MASKS ARE REQUIRED TO ENTER,” read a piece of paper stuck to a pole near the entrance. Outside the squat, silver-painted brick building in a forlorn stretch of downtown, a sign warned customers Monday that COVID-19 necessitated new rules. Magic City is one of many clubs that remain open in Fulton County, which has seen the highest number of coronavirus cases in Georgia: more than 17,000 confirmed infections and 380 deaths. Brian Kemp, a Republican, says the state’s less-stringent rules take precedence.Ĭlippers guard Lou Williams is missing the first two games of the NBA restart after visiting an Atlanta strip club. But the city’s restrictions are not enforced - even as local hospitals reach capacity and scramble to treat COVID-19 patients in their emergency rooms - as Georgia Gov. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, responded three weeks ago to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the Atlanta area by mandating that all residents wear face masks in public spaces and restaurants close dining rooms. Any uncertainty about how to run the business amid the coronavirus appears exacerbated as Atlanta and Georgia officials spar on the need for stricter regulations. Williams said he was dropping in on his favorite restaurant in Atlanta to get hot wings - a claim that seemed hard to believe for many sports fans, and raised a flurry of questions such as: Who goes to a strip club for its kitchen menu? How are businesses based on intimate dances and cash exchanges even open during a deadly pandemic? How does a strip club begin to navigate social distancing?Īdult clubs like Magic City that offer food, drink and live dance shows do not fit neatly into local government COVID-19 guidelines and orders for restaurants and bars.
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