November 6, 2025 • 38 mins
On Monday evening we discussed how Centerfields, Boston, one of Boston’s two remaining strip clubs, is looking to move from its current location to a main street in the heart of Chinatown. The idea has been met with some pushbacks from both residents and businesses. Nick Defilippo, the General Manager of Centerfolds Boston, stopped by to discuss this!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray video.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We'll get the duck boats ready, let's line them up.
We're ready, okay, I mean it's Stanley Cup Finals next June,
right around the corner. Let me tell you anyway, every Hello, everybody,
I talk talk about Boston, and you have to know
Bill Brett. Bill Brett is with me tonight. Bill, you
(00:27):
have a busy weekend coming up. How are you this evening?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I'm going I'm doing, Dan, Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Come on tomorrow, there's a luncheon of two thousand marines.
Where's that lunching luncheon taking place.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
It's gonna be Ano Convention Center in South Boston.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And you have produced a book about the Marines, and
through some benefactors, you're gonna have two thousands of these
books given to everyone who attends. As I understand that,
tell us about the book and tell us about why
it's important tomorrow, and then I want to talk about
your book that's coming up on Veterans in Boston.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, thank you well, first of all, thank you for
inviting me to see me. Absolutely, the book is actually
as the two part series, this first book that I'm putting, Well,
it's together tomorrow launching it. It's celebrating the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the veterans of the Marine Corps.
And this came out of while I was working on
(01:33):
the project for close to three years. As time went
on and I was approaching the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the Marines, I was able to take out
the sixty two photographs out of the main book, which
I hope to have probably in three weeks. And these
are all marines I will served, and they're all local.
(01:53):
They're all local, you know, men and women.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Sixty sixty local marines.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well right, and men and women. And the oldest marine
is one of the first women marines, Millie coxswam Quinsys
one hundred and one. And the gentleman from the Cape
and Nashby, he's said one of the oldest survivors of
Pearl Habba. And both of these people are shop at
Attack and I was so impressed meeting both of them,
and so in this particular when reading about the Marines
(02:23):
and watching this big anniversary coming, I said, well, the
big book I call is one hundred and eighty photographs
of all branches. What I did is I took out
sixty sixty two photographs of marines, and they put a
special book just for them.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Now the main book which which is again in the
Bill Brett series of books, which you did on you
famous Bostonians, famous female Bostonians.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
You did a book that Dell. You've done some of
the best coffee table books that I could ever imagine.
You have basically memorial the shakers and movers of Boston
from the last half of the twentieth century through the
first half, well the first quarter of the twenty first century.
(03:11):
It's been an amazing Give me the titles of all
the books, because I know just about everybody in my
audience has one or more of them.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Give us The first one was first book was Our
One Family. It was a picture of the three mayors
walking through the Boston but lookout and Kevin White, Tom
Anino and Ray Flynn. And the second book was a
follow up of the first book. It was extended at
the Bostonians KNDA had six governors coming down the steps
of the State House. And the third book was the
(03:42):
Women's Book. I did it with my daughter Carried Kerry
and I re collaborated together. She picked a younger women
who are aspiring, and I picked all the women who
party done wonderful things. And then I did a book
on the Irish fifty years of Boston, Irish first generation,
second generation. And then I did a book on the
(04:04):
Women of the Boston so all women on the Boston
City Council. It was a game changer. And and then
I did well. One of my proudest books was I
did The Day in the Life of the City. I
took a picture every day. I love, the year loved
and there's a lot that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And this one, this one will pay tribute to the
mitart to the military. So tomorrow is a big day
for you when the book comes out. Of the one
hundred and eighty photographs of people, and there are great stories.
I'll have you on some night and we'll do an
hour and we'll take phone calls from people, great as
(04:47):
we've done before. But I'm won.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
And I got a lot of good leads from here,
two from the well.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I know you've you've come on and done that as well.
It's given me fertile territory here and nights.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
H it was good.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I'm very proud, of.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Very lucky that I had, you know, Paul Doyle, my
dear friend Paul though, who's strung along with me, and
he came with me for most of the shoots and
assistant me on the shoots. And and he is a
poem that he wrote which is in the book. It's
beautiful poem about the military. And then Carol Baggy has
been with me from day one as our editor and
without her, Spook wouldn't have happened because she checks everything.
(05:28):
And John Photo Labu and Hanover which I worked out
of there for the last three or four years, and
without his help, I wouldn't been able to do this.
So I'm really lucky. And General Dunfot Joe Dunfett, was
able to do the forward for me. He was born
in Quincy and he forced out General and he was
chairman of Jourint Chiefs of Staff. I'm just a classic man.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
By the way, let's give a plug to the featured
speaker tomorrow. You mentioned to me it's a it's a
gentleman who is now on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Uh.
And he is General Chris Mahoney from Waynmouth High School
and Holy Cross And I was unaware of that.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, And he's and his dad was one and Dorchester
how about that? And everything comes out of door next
everything back to Dorchester and he's just happened to me.
I didn't know that until they sadly that he was
going to be he was going to be a guest speaker,
which you know I met him before. You know, when
I met him a few years ago to take this picture,
(06:30):
I said, where you're from?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Me?
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So well, I get just the roots. I got quinsy,
I mean waynmouths roots. Oh, I like this guy right away.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, you have a great day tomorrow. Bill. I I
assume a lot of those Marines I go to want
you to autograph that book book for them.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, I got a rest tonight, maamim, you're falling off.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Well, enjoy tomorrow. Thank you all right, and say hello
to uh General Chris Mahoney from Weymouth. Amazing, amazing the
military leaders that have come out of Massachusetts. And Joe
Dunn of course one.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Had nine generals, nine generals from Cuinsey. I mean, that's
just unbelievable. In the town of Wayne, about this file
of honor recipients.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Unbelievable, just unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
How big of the small towns when you think about it,
I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
That's that's what America is all about. Small towns, small
town true. Bill. We will we will talk soon and
you'll be back soon. So thank you so much. Enjoy
your day tomorrow. Okay, congratulations. All right, we get back.
We're going to have a conversation with UH and and
we'll also take phone calls with the general manager of
(07:47):
the Centerfolds Club in Boston.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
UH.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
We talked earlier this week. There's a controversy in and
around Chinatown where the Centerfolds, which as I call them
an emporium of interpretive dance, others refer to them as
strip clubs, currently operates on the Grain Street. And we
did an hour on Monday night with Ed Flynn of
(08:14):
the Boston City Council, represents part of his district, represents Chinatown.
And we received a call from Nick d Philippo, who's
the general manager. And we're going to reach out to
Nick right now and we will have him and he
will make his case why this institution, which has been
in Boston for a long time, should have the right
(08:37):
because of some circumstances over which he has no control,
that they should be able to relocate to a location
on Stuart Street. So we will be talking with Nick
d Philippo on Nightside, and if you'd like to express
an opinion one way or the other, you are always
welcome to join us. My name is Dan Ray and
this is Nightside on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
You're on night Side, Dan Ray on w Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well, on Monday night, we talked for about an hour
on a subject that is of some controversy in and
around Boston's Chinatown with us Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn
was representing his his constituents, and some of his constituents
called in. We talked about an entertainment location called Centerfolds Centerfolds, Boston.
(09:32):
Currently they're located in kind of a sideway side out
of the Way street, and the history is that there
used to be a lot of clubs like that in
what was called Boston's Combat Zone, and now there were
only a couple left. And this particular club is a
club that I'm going to have the general manager describe.
(09:52):
Nick D Philippo is a listener to this show and
must have heard us on Monday night and called U,
contacted me and I want to give him an opportunity
to talk about his side of the story. Nick They Philippo,
Welcome to Night Side.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Sir, Thank you, Dan, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
No, thanks for reaching out, because a lot of you
know groups, they they missed the opportunity describe for me. Look,
we know that there's what we're talking about here. You
describe in your words what Centerfolds is as an entertainment venue.
(10:31):
I want to use your terminology.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
So our club is a gentleman's club. It's it's one
of the last true gentlemen's clubs in the United States,
and it's a hospitality driven business with you know, adult
entertainment being you know, the full nude license that we
have through the city of Boston. So it's you know service,
(10:57):
it's you know, people coming in from all over the
country doing business in Boston, the conventions. I mean, you know,
we have athletes, you know, comedians, you name it that
come through here. But our objective business is adult entertainment,
a gentleman's club, not like a strip club.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
There's differences in those Okay, then then you know I
sometimes when people use the word strip club or whatever,
I will say to them, well, I want to call
it an emporium of interpretive dance, and I kind of
say that a little tongue in cheek. But you describe
for us to do is between you know, what is
called a strip club or an emporium of interpretive dance
(11:37):
and a gentleman's club. What what are the rules, what
are the constraints? You said, it's full nudity. I assume
the dancers are all women.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Yes, the dances are all women. It is full nude,
full bar. And you know, the difference really is just
just the action of the dance or we have no
contact rule in the city of Boston, in really state
of Massachusetts. But you know, a strip club would be
you know, a little more risky. It might be a
little louder, the music might be different, there might be contact,
(12:07):
there might be things you know, on said, but ours
is not that at all. It's you know, manners, politeness.
We give you a good a good drink. You know,
we have options for dances. You know, we have private rooms,
stuff like that. But all that is no contact. Being
that you know there is there is zero nefarious behavior, and.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
That activity would be monitored. I assume that you comply
with all of the various licensing laws. I think Ed
Flynn mentioned the other night that or maybe it was
a caller that, or maybe I read in the Boston Globe.
You might have been quoted that there was only one
employee that did something that was inappropriate, and that was
(12:59):
fire No.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
So the in the Boston Globe they looked at our
past violations for the last five years, and we didn't
have any, and we got a warning for this one.
And there was an employee that had a license to
carry through the state of Massachusetts and in the city
of Boston. You cannot bring that to work unless the
company has licensed, bonded, and insured. We were not, so
the employee had to be terminated for that's.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And that wouldn't matter if the employee was a working
for a law firm or centerfolds. That applies across the board.
So yes, So you are now in a situation where
I guess your lease is running out on the Grain
Street and there's an opportunity for you to move to
(13:42):
Stewart Street. Is it in the old Jacob Warths restaurant
or next to the Jacob Worth's restaurant.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
So it's next to the Jacob's Worth's restaurant, and to
not correct you the lease. It's not that the lease
is running out. That we have a lease and that
you know, the landlords have been very gracious and extending
least you know, years, and we just need a backup
because the inevitable is the landlord would like to develop
(14:11):
this whole lot of land from the corner of Washington
Street to our building.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Okay, Now, my understanding and if I'm wrong here, believe me,
correct me on anything, because you know this better than
I do. My understanding is that at some point you
folks own the building that you're in, but you sold
it and now the landlord wants to basically what a
lot of landlords do. He wants to develop the building
and at some point you have to relocate. Is that
(14:38):
the short of the story.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
Yes, we sold the building in twenty twenty one after
eighteen months of being closed due to the COVID pandemic.
The city and state guidelines required us to be a
Phase four or open, which we had to be closed
for the year and a half.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
So yeah, I understand understandable of all. I mean, there's
a lot of businesses were hurt bad. Yes, that through
no fault of their own. Okay, So so you have
this dilemma.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
I I.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
It sounds to me like you're not looking at a
date certain by which you have to move, but you
know it's.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Coming right right. We're just preparing for the inevitable, whether
that's three years, five years, ten years. We were just
trying to have a suitable, you know, backup plan with
you know, the business that we're in being a good
driving business.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
So are you looking to buy the building next to
Jacob Wurtz? Are you looking to what do you what
do you want to have as the backup plan?
Speaker 5 (15:38):
So that building is in the adult zone, which that
zone was determined twenty five years ago before we opened
by the city and the guidelines the old combat zone,
like you talked about on your last show with mister Flynn.
The city gave us these guidelines that we had to
(15:59):
keep this business within these guidelines and there is a
map of them. You can look them up and there's
a blueprint of It's a very very small area they
gave us. But we have found a building that is
in this zone. That's why we apply to this and
we would like to buy it, but the landlord would
obviously like the leases to us, and either way it
would be a home for us.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So, so are you guys, is your company prepared? If
the landlord if it's empty at this point, the landlord
could do a couple of things. One he could try
to say, hey, how quickly can you can you get here?
Or he might say, look, I will do a series
of leases annually so that when you feel you got
to go, this building will await you. Are you I
(16:42):
assume you must be in and I don't want to
impose on your business negotiations, but I assume that there
must be some flexibility in both ends here if that's
the building you really want to get to.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
A few things I can't talk about. We do have
an NDA, but we.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Would and he is a non disclosure agreement. Go ahead,
yeaht to make sure that follows us. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Yes, So certain things that we have discussed and signed
with this landlord tentatively, you know, I can't say, but yes,
if there was a time that we could move and
then you know, the near future, because we do still
have time on our lease now and we would not
you know, break that lease at all, respectfully.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
So I got to take a break from my newscast
when we come back, I want to ask you just
a few more questions and understand why this topic has
percolated up. At this point, nothing is imminent. From what
I'm hearing you say, I want to I'll ask you
that question on the other side because it appears to
me I think I can calculate the answer.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
And then what what you've done to reach out to
the community or have you had an opportunity to yet.
So those are some of the questions I have. I'd
like to invite callers and listeners to join the conversation.
I mind my callers and listeners that we do polite
conversation here on Nightside. You might disagree with the type
of business that Centerfolds runs, and you're welcome to express that,
(18:10):
but please do not make it personal. And you know,
we do live in a society where different people enjoy
different types of businesses, and just because you don't, you
might not avail yourself as a customer. There may be
others who want want to. There may be listeners to
(18:31):
my show who have been there and can support what
Nick is saying about the quality of the premises and
the level of professionalism that is maintained. I just want
to give him the same or equal opportunity to discuss
this as Ed Flynn, Consul of Flint, did the other night,
(18:52):
and we will be back if you'd like to join
the conversation. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty
six one seven nine three. My guess Nick d Philippo,
he's the general manager of Centerfolds in Boston, and the
story has been in the Globe at least I'm not
sure if it's been in the Herald. But well, we'll
explore a little bit more and with your phone calls,
(19:13):
we will hopefully have a fear and polite conversation from
now until eleven back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Right after this, you're on night Side with Dan Ray
on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
We're talking about Centerfolds Boston. It's an adult entertainment, a
gentleman's club, described by Nick d Philippo, who is the
general manager. We talked about this on Monday night with
Boston City Council Ed Flynn. There was a story in
the Boston Globe. Nick, what got this story going in
the Globe? What's the genesis of the sounds to me
(19:53):
like that nothing imminent is about to happen, So somehow,
some way, someone must be pushing this this story, any
idea what prompted the Globe to open this can of
worms up as it were.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
So there was a story posted by the Herald as well,
and that one was when we went to the zoning board.
So that's public record, as you know. So we're in
the you know, the tentative stages of applying for the
zoning and you know, taking the proper steps to move
forward through the city and state guidelines. So once that
(20:27):
became public record, then the obviously the news and the
media started asking some questions and posted the story.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, so the Herald really broke the story, and the
Globe followed up on it, and now we're talking about it.
So what is the reaction? Ed Flynn, as I'm sure
you heard on Monday night, said that there's a lot
of people in the community that he referred to as Chinatown,
which is, you know, a residential community. It may be
a next to or near the you know what had
(20:56):
been zoned for adulta entertainment, the old combat zone. And
by the way, Ed Flinn said that when his dad
became mayor, there were forty four establishments, not like yours,
because you describe you as as a gentleman's club. There
were a lot of them that were pretty tawdry places
back in the day, going back to the nineteen eighties,
(21:18):
and I guess there's only two of these clubs that exist.
Was he accurate when he gave me those statistics on Monday?
Speaker 5 (21:28):
Yes, yep. In the seventies, eighties, and I believe early nineties,
that's when I believe his father was starting to clean
up the old combat zone at the meaning, you know,
getting rid of some of these places. You know, it
was more than just clubs. There were stores and peep
shows and oh yeah, you know, you know, so the
(21:48):
sex stores and stuff like that. So you know, it
has come a very long way since those days, I
will tell you that.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
So, what has been the feedback from the community. And
yet I know that a lot of people would say, hey,
you know, I might not mind it down where it is,
but I wouldn't want one in my community. But for
people for whom that is their community, you can understand
that they have some questions. Have you reached out to
(22:17):
the Chinatown community. Has there been any sort of conversation.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Back and forth so yet? And no, we haven't had
anybody reach out to us directly. You know, we are
a part of the community and we try to be
the best neighbors we can. We support all the local
restaurants and anything around here. We have a food runner
that gets food for the staff all night long, and
you know the majority of that are from the neighbor's restaurants.
(22:43):
So anytime we go in, it's always friendly, Hi hugs,
and how you doing. So we haven't got any negative
blowback our way that we're aware of.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You know, the impression that I got from Ed Flynn
on Monday was that this probably nothing that can be
done by the city to legally prevent you from making
this move, and that the one thing that Ed Flynn
seemed to be emphasizing was he wanted to get public input.
(23:13):
It doesn't sound to me like you're opposed to that,
so no, I.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Mean, I believe, you know, the community should have a voice,
the public input. This is the same. So what we're doing,
Dan is we're essentially going back twenty five years to
before this club opened, when there was only one Gentleman's gool.
It was a strip club, the glass Slip it down here,
and this is what we went through. I wasn't a
(23:38):
part of it then, But the original owners had to
go through the neighborhood, the community, and they understood that.
And the reason the zoning is the way it is
is because of what they did then. So the fruits
of that is now what we're dealing with, and we're
trying to abide by those guidelines.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
And in terms of the hours that there's no other
issue that the community is upset by. And I know
Boston is still at two o'clock city. It's not like
New York where places, restaurants and bars and other activities
can stay open until four in the morning. I assume
you comply with the rules and regulations that any other establishment,
(24:22):
either like yours or that serves alcohol has to close
up by a certain hour.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
Absolutely, two am is the absolute last second you could
be here. Our license states that there's no drinking after
two am. Ninety nine percent of the time, we are
cleared long before two thirty, which our license states the
last patron has to be out by two thirty. So,
you know, we don't have any issues with that kind
of thing. Absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
And fortunately you haven't had any issues with you know, fisticuffs,
brawls or whatever nothing out of the extraordinary. People are
going in there, they're not angry, they're they're happy to
be in this location and avail themselves of the entertainment
that your your club provides. Correct.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Yeah, that's for the boss. Uh. You know, that kind
of stuff doesn't happen with us. Like I said, we're
a gentleman's club, and the people that come in here
want to be happy. They come here to relax and
you know, the music isn't loud, and they can watch
a game and they can you know, watch them a
friendly about entertainment in a clean environment and you know,
not hostile whatsoever. And we luckily avoid all those issues
(25:37):
because of the temperament of my staff and the way
the businesses are in.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, and I assume that you would have enough people
and your staff to make sure that that nothing's going
to get out of control, and if somebody is not
behaving properly, they will be told politely that their presence
is no longer permitted.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
Yes, and you know, it's very rare that that does happen.
But as we have many qualified, highly trained staff members
that can see a situation and you know, make sure
it doesn't escalate. Very quickly.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Okay, So the community, I don't want to get hung
up in this, but I don't know who represents the community.
There must be organizations either you know, business organizations or whatever,
but they had not reached out to you, even with
all the publicity that has been generated in the last
(26:30):
few weeks.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
So the Lower End Washington Street group did call in
support of us, and they did come out and say
they were in support of us. So that was the
only community outreach that we've received. I can't speak on,
you know, any other parts of it. But again, the
address is literally directly behind us. So other than Lagrange
(26:55):
Street being more of a side street like you had
said with mister Flynn, to Stuart Street is more of
a front facing really shouldn't be that big of a
difference in the move. It's not going to cause any
harm that it already wouldn't be, and we aren't.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
So will the city try to restrict The one objection
that I'm sure that someone's going to raise is that
being on what I would call a front facing street,
you're going to be on if you are successful here,
you'll be on Stuart Street. I think you would be
looking directly at some of the medical centers if I'm
not mistaken.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
The hotel it's a Maxie hotel. There's a parking garage
directly in front of the building, and then the dental
school for toughs I believe, and then the medical buildings
are down the street. So it's kind of a variety
of Okay.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
So the question is, obviously, like any business, you're going
to want to advertise the business. Are you prepared to
work with the city if they say, hey, we don't
mind you advertising here, but you got to keep it
within reasons so that you're you're able to effectively advertise
(28:08):
your presence, but at the same time, have it done tastefully.
I'm searching for words here A nix.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
No.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
We always comply with anything the city requests or requires
for us to do our advertisements. We only do an
online you know, we have a website. We do a
little promotions through some of the major steakhouses and some
of the hotels just for the you know, the guests
that come into the city for like I said that,
the conventions and whatnot, and the business businesses, you know,
(28:40):
just regular business guys come or girls, you know, four days,
five days a week, Monday through Friday, and we get
a lot of those people. So anything that the city
would require or ask of us, we would one hundred
percent comply with no questions asked.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Okay, we'll get some phone calls. On the other side,
I got to take a quick break here. I think
you represent your establishment very well. Uh, And I know
that sometimes people can get a little heated on this issue.
But I know that my calls will behave themselves. And
if you want to ask Nick d Philippo a question,
(29:15):
make a comment, particularly if you happen to be listening
in the in the area close to the club and
you'd like to join the conversation. Six one seven, two, five,
four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three ten thirty.
We will be back on night Side, final segment with
my guest, the general manager of the Centerfolds Boston Gentlemen's Club,
(29:37):
Nick d Philippo. Back right after this quick break.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Night Side with Dan Ray ONBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
All right, here we go, let's go. Let's get some
phone calls here, Nick. My guest is Nick d Philippo.
He's the general manager of Centerfolds in Boston. I'm going
to go first to dot who's in Medford, Dot. Welcome
are you tonight?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (30:01):
Hi Dan, and Hi Nick.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
Hi Dot.
Speaker 6 (30:05):
I'm just calling to say I'm wishing you all the
best in your business. And I'm ninety years old and
my husband's been dead for over forty and he used
to like to go to the Squire's in Revere. But
he'd liked to have a couple of drinks, and of
(30:27):
course I was a shelfeur. I had to go with him.
And he would say every couple of months, he'd say,
if you'l like going over Revere tonight. I'd say sure,
I'd get in the car take them over. He liked
to have He worked hard, he liked to have a
couple of drinks and enjoy the show. And I was
(30:48):
right there.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
By the way.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
You're welcome here anytime, Dot, I would love to have
you with my guest.
Speaker 6 (30:55):
Well, I don't get around too much anymore, but I
just wanted to call. I think it's such an interesting
subject and I don't see a fling along with it.
You've got business men coming in town, you get people traveling.
Two of us. They want to go out and have
a little fun.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
Nothing wrong with it, Thank you, Dot. I'm from Medfic
born and raised go Mustangs, and I appreciate your call.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
Oh okay, well, no, that's great. Well, all the best
to you.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
You know, if Nick was if Nick was single here Dot,
I think we could get something going here. But I
don't think he's here.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
You know he is he is?
Speaker 6 (31:33):
He a hundred. I only go for guys that are
one hundred. All right, well, listen, all the best.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Well Dot, thank you, Dot. I appreciate your call.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Okay, thanks, DoD, appreciate your call very much. But by
the way, Dot doesn't sound like she's a hundred. She's
very strong and U and she did. She turned ninety
on Halloween. Uh to know that for a fact, because
we sent out a special happy Birthday wish to Dot
(32:07):
that night. And she's one of our most loyal listeners.
I never knew that she would drive her husband to
the Squire.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
However, See, hey, we're like a speak easy right, like
everybody knows what's going on, just everybody kind of doesn't
talk about that's all, you know, nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
No, No, I do understand. And as I say, I
think that that the way you've described this clubs, I
suspect that you're not going to have any problem at
all sit in the in the couple of minutes that
we have left, I think you did the right thing
(32:44):
by coming on tonight and explaining the circumstances and the
situation that you're dealing with. How how smooth do you
think this transition will be? And do you have any
estimate to ask you like a couple of news type
questions here? Do you think we're talking a couple of
(33:04):
years down the road? My sense is that, as I
mentioned earlier, my sense from talking with you today and
also talking with you tonight, is that that's nothing that's
imminent here.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
So first, I want to thank you for having us
on the show. I really appreciate that listening to both sides,
very very thoughtful, and you know, you're great at your
job and you've been in the business this long for that.
So I just want to commend you for that.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I appreciate it. I appreciate that. Again, I feel that,
you know, we had a very fiery hour at nine
o'clock talking about bike lanes and automobiles and all of that.
Every story has at least two sides. Some stories have
more than two sides. That's what I learned a long
time ago. So thanks, thanks for the kind comment. Right
back at you on all of that for coming on.
(33:49):
So it's it's not imminent, but give me an idea
about will you think this is gonna gonna end up?
Speaker 5 (33:56):
So you know, it takes a little while with the
licensing and that in the breakdown and the zoning and
the building and you know construction pyramits and stuff like
that as you know, but you know, bust and it's busy.
You know, it's busy in all aspects, not just the
night life, daytime construction that you know, Boston is always
upgrading and doing better or keeping things historically, they're always
(34:18):
doing something. So we don't anticipate anything you know, in
the next six months, you know, if I had to guess,
you know, between two to three years. I mean, that's
that's the shot. It's also least depending if we get
a little extension here and that buys us a little
more time to work with the city and do what
they want us to do. You know, that works too.
So you know, like I said, we're just looking for
(34:40):
a smooth transition to go and keep doing our business
equitably and you know, having a hospitality business for the
conventions and the big money that does want to come
into the city. And I know you read what I
said in the Globe, and I understand people's point of
view on it, being I said, you can't be a
major city and get major conventions without adult entertainment. And
(35:03):
I stand by that because at the end of the day,
there's a convention committee and what their job is is
to see the hotel rooms, the restaurants, the nightlife, the accommodations,
the casinos, anything in the convention center. You know, I
don't know a couple miles that's their job. And they
do look at us, even though people might not think
(35:24):
they do, they one hundred percent do. And you know
it's a necessity. It's for some people, like our friend
DoD said, it might not be for everybody, but you'd
be surprised that some of the people that do come
through the doors.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Well, I think that I understand exactly what you're saying,
and I also think that as long as it's being
run in the way in which you suggest it, I
do know that there have been places around the country
where women are somehow conscripted almost and if it's against
their will in any way, shape or form, that cannot
(35:59):
be tolerated.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
I assume would be the.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Women who were displaying their wares publicly are doing it
you know, with some pride and uh and and and
and and feeling as if they are they have a profession,
and maybe that leads to other professions, good professions, meaning
they may meet people at that club who are in
business and they end up on different career paths. No one,
(36:26):
no one does this for for their entire lives lives,
There's no question about that. But again, I thank you
for coming on. It's a it's a sensitive subject. Nobody
was super critical of of what you guys are doing.
You you handle this very well tonight, Nick, and I
appreciate you taking the time and reaching out. I wish
(36:46):
more organizations and businesses who we might talk about reach
out so we can give them the opportunity also to
present themselves in the best like possible, which you did tonight.
So I thank you for joining us. I really do.
Speaker 5 (36:59):
I appreciate it, Dan, and thank you for having me again.
And you know, if like I said, if there's anything
we can do with the community in the city to
help this go forward, you know smoothly, and you know,
keep our good neighborhood the way it is, because you know,
China Town is also our neighborhood, and we'd like to
make sure everything just runs the way things should be, quietly, equitably,
(37:22):
and you know, having good neighbors is the number one
thing that we want to have and be, so that's
all we ask.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
That's great, Nick de Filippo, pleasure to talk with you,
best of like going forward, and if we need to
talk again, we'll be in touch. Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
All right, thank you, Dan, you very welcome.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
All right, so interesting subject. Not a lot of callers,
but you had the opportunity. We come back. I think
I want to talk about airline travel and I want
to talk about the inconvenience that a lot of people
are going to be dealing with in the next few days,
maybe even longer. Here comes the eleven o'clock news coming
back right after that.
It's Night Side with Dan Ray video.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We'll get the duck boats ready, let's line them up.
We're ready, okay, I mean it's Stanley Cup Finals next June,
right around the corner. Let me tell you anyway, every Hello, everybody,
I talk talk about Boston, and you have to know
Bill Brett. Bill Brett is with me tonight. Bill, you
(00:27):
have a busy weekend coming up. How are you this evening?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I'm going I'm doing, Dan, Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Come on tomorrow, there's a luncheon of two thousand marines.
Where's that lunching luncheon taking place.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
It's gonna be Ano Convention Center in South Boston.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And you have produced a book about the Marines, and
through some benefactors, you're gonna have two thousands of these
books given to everyone who attends. As I understand that,
tell us about the book and tell us about why
it's important tomorrow, and then I want to talk about
your book that's coming up on Veterans in Boston.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, thank you well, first of all, thank you for
inviting me to see me. Absolutely, the book is actually
as the two part series, this first book that I'm putting, Well,
it's together tomorrow launching it. It's celebrating the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the veterans of the Marine Corps.
And this came out of while I was working on
(01:33):
the project for close to three years. As time went
on and I was approaching the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the Marines, I was able to take out
the sixty two photographs out of the main book, which
I hope to have probably in three weeks. And these
are all marines I will served, and they're all local.
(01:53):
They're all local, you know, men and women.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Sixty sixty local marines.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well right, and men and women. And the oldest marine
is one of the first women marines, Millie coxswam Quinsys
one hundred and one. And the gentleman from the Cape
and Nashby, he's said one of the oldest survivors of
Pearl Habba. And both of these people are shop at
Attack and I was so impressed meeting both of them,
and so in this particular when reading about the Marines
(02:23):
and watching this big anniversary coming, I said, well, the
big book I call is one hundred and eighty photographs
of all branches. What I did is I took out
sixty sixty two photographs of marines, and they put a
special book just for them.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Now the main book which which is again in the
Bill Brett series of books, which you did on you
famous Bostonians, famous female Bostonians.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
You did a book that Dell. You've done some of
the best coffee table books that I could ever imagine.
You have basically memorial the shakers and movers of Boston
from the last half of the twentieth century through the
first half, well the first quarter of the twenty first century.
(03:11):
It's been an amazing Give me the titles of all
the books, because I know just about everybody in my
audience has one or more of them.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Give us The first one was first book was Our
One Family. It was a picture of the three mayors
walking through the Boston but lookout and Kevin White, Tom
Anino and Ray Flynn. And the second book was a
follow up of the first book. It was extended at
the Bostonians KNDA had six governors coming down the steps
of the State House. And the third book was the
(03:42):
Women's Book. I did it with my daughter Carried Kerry
and I re collaborated together. She picked a younger women
who are aspiring, and I picked all the women who
party done wonderful things. And then I did a book
on the Irish fifty years of Boston, Irish first generation,
second generation. And then I did a book on the
(04:04):
Women of the Boston so all women on the Boston
City Council. It was a game changer. And and then
I did well. One of my proudest books was I
did The Day in the Life of the City. I
took a picture every day. I love, the year loved
and there's a lot that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And this one, this one will pay tribute to the
mitart to the military. So tomorrow is a big day
for you when the book comes out. Of the one
hundred and eighty photographs of people, and there are great stories.
I'll have you on some night and we'll do an
hour and we'll take phone calls from people, great as
(04:47):
we've done before. But I'm won.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
And I got a lot of good leads from here,
two from the well.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I know you've you've come on and done that as well.
It's given me fertile territory here and nights.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
H it was good.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I'm very proud, of.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Very lucky that I had, you know, Paul Doyle, my
dear friend Paul though, who's strung along with me, and
he came with me for most of the shoots and
assistant me on the shoots. And and he is a
poem that he wrote which is in the book. It's
beautiful poem about the military. And then Carol Baggy has
been with me from day one as our editor and
without her, Spook wouldn't have happened because she checks everything.
(05:28):
And John Photo Labu and Hanover which I worked out
of there for the last three or four years, and
without his help, I wouldn't been able to do this.
So I'm really lucky. And General Dunfot Joe Dunfett, was
able to do the forward for me. He was born
in Quincy and he forced out General and he was
chairman of Jourint Chiefs of Staff. I'm just a classic man.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
By the way, let's give a plug to the featured
speaker tomorrow. You mentioned to me it's a it's a
gentleman who is now on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Uh.
And he is General Chris Mahoney from Waynmouth High School
and Holy Cross And I was unaware of that.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, And he's and his dad was one and Dorchester
how about that? And everything comes out of door next
everything back to Dorchester and he's just happened to me.
I didn't know that until they sadly that he was
going to be he was going to be a guest speaker,
which you know I met him before. You know, when
I met him a few years ago to take this picture,
(06:30):
I said, where you're from?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Me?
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So well, I get just the roots. I got quinsy,
I mean waynmouths roots. Oh, I like this guy right away.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, you have a great day tomorrow. Bill. I I
assume a lot of those Marines I go to want
you to autograph that book book for them.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, I got a rest tonight, maamim, you're falling off.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Well, enjoy tomorrow. Thank you all right, and say hello
to uh General Chris Mahoney from Weymouth. Amazing, amazing the
military leaders that have come out of Massachusetts. And Joe
Dunn of course one.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Had nine generals, nine generals from Cuinsey. I mean, that's
just unbelievable. In the town of Wayne, about this file
of honor recipients.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Unbelievable, just unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
How big of the small towns when you think about it,
I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
That's that's what America is all about. Small towns, small
town true. Bill. We will we will talk soon and
you'll be back soon. So thank you so much. Enjoy
your day tomorrow. Okay, congratulations. All right, we get back.
We're going to have a conversation with UH and and
we'll also take phone calls with the general manager of
(07:47):
the Centerfolds Club in Boston.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
UH.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
We talked earlier this week. There's a controversy in and
around Chinatown where the Centerfolds, which as I call them
an emporium of interpretive dance, others refer to them as
strip clubs, currently operates on the Grain Street. And we
did an hour on Monday night with Ed Flynn of
(08:14):
the Boston City Council, represents part of his district, represents Chinatown.
And we received a call from Nick d Philippo, who's
the general manager. And we're going to reach out to
Nick right now and we will have him and he
will make his case why this institution, which has been
in Boston for a long time, should have the right
(08:37):
because of some circumstances over which he has no control,
that they should be able to relocate to a location
on Stuart Street. So we will be talking with Nick
d Philippo on Nightside, and if you'd like to express
an opinion one way or the other, you are always
welcome to join us. My name is Dan Ray and
this is Nightside on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
You're on night Side, Dan Ray on w Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well, on Monday night, we talked for about an hour
on a subject that is of some controversy in and
around Boston's Chinatown with us Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn
was representing his his constituents, and some of his constituents
called in. We talked about an entertainment location called Centerfolds Centerfolds, Boston.
(09:32):
Currently they're located in kind of a sideway side out
of the Way street, and the history is that there
used to be a lot of clubs like that in
what was called Boston's Combat Zone, and now there were
only a couple left. And this particular club is a
club that I'm going to have the general manager describe.
(09:52):
Nick D Philippo is a listener to this show and
must have heard us on Monday night and called U,
contacted me and I want to give him an opportunity
to talk about his side of the story. Nick They Philippo,
Welcome to Night Side.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Sir, Thank you, Dan, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
No, thanks for reaching out, because a lot of you
know groups, they they missed the opportunity describe for me. Look,
we know that there's what we're talking about here. You
describe in your words what Centerfolds is as an entertainment venue.
(10:31):
I want to use your terminology.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
So our club is a gentleman's club. It's it's one
of the last true gentlemen's clubs in the United States,
and it's a hospitality driven business with you know, adult
entertainment being you know, the full nude license that we
have through the city of Boston. So it's you know service,
(10:57):
it's you know, people coming in from all over the
country doing business in Boston, the conventions. I mean, you know,
we have athletes, you know, comedians, you name it that
come through here. But our objective business is adult entertainment,
a gentleman's club, not like a strip club.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
There's differences in those Okay, then then you know I
sometimes when people use the word strip club or whatever,
I will say to them, well, I want to call
it an emporium of interpretive dance, and I kind of
say that a little tongue in cheek. But you describe
for us to do is between you know, what is
called a strip club or an emporium of interpretive dance
(11:37):
and a gentleman's club. What what are the rules, what
are the constraints? You said, it's full nudity. I assume
the dancers are all women.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Yes, the dances are all women. It is full nude,
full bar. And you know, the difference really is just
just the action of the dance or we have no
contact rule in the city of Boston, in really state
of Massachusetts. But you know, a strip club would be
you know, a little more risky. It might be a
little louder, the music might be different, there might be contact,
(12:07):
there might be things you know, on said, but ours
is not that at all. It's you know, manners, politeness.
We give you a good a good drink. You know,
we have options for dances. You know, we have private rooms,
stuff like that. But all that is no contact. Being
that you know there is there is zero nefarious behavior, and.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
That activity would be monitored. I assume that you comply
with all of the various licensing laws. I think Ed
Flynn mentioned the other night that or maybe it was
a caller that, or maybe I read in the Boston Globe.
You might have been quoted that there was only one
employee that did something that was inappropriate, and that was
(12:59):
fire No.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
So the in the Boston Globe they looked at our
past violations for the last five years, and we didn't
have any, and we got a warning for this one.
And there was an employee that had a license to
carry through the state of Massachusetts and in the city
of Boston. You cannot bring that to work unless the
company has licensed, bonded, and insured. We were not, so
the employee had to be terminated for that's.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And that wouldn't matter if the employee was a working
for a law firm or centerfolds. That applies across the board.
So yes, So you are now in a situation where
I guess your lease is running out on the Grain
Street and there's an opportunity for you to move to
(13:42):
Stewart Street. Is it in the old Jacob Warths restaurant
or next to the Jacob Worth's restaurant.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
So it's next to the Jacob's Worth's restaurant, and to
not correct you the lease. It's not that the lease
is running out. That we have a lease and that
you know, the landlords have been very gracious and extending
least you know, years, and we just need a backup
because the inevitable is the landlord would like to develop
(14:11):
this whole lot of land from the corner of Washington
Street to our building.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Okay, Now, my understanding and if I'm wrong here, believe me,
correct me on anything, because you know this better than
I do. My understanding is that at some point you
folks own the building that you're in, but you sold
it and now the landlord wants to basically what a
lot of landlords do. He wants to develop the building
and at some point you have to relocate. Is that
(14:38):
the short of the story.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
Yes, we sold the building in twenty twenty one after
eighteen months of being closed due to the COVID pandemic.
The city and state guidelines required us to be a
Phase four or open, which we had to be closed
for the year and a half.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
So yeah, I understand understandable of all. I mean, there's
a lot of businesses were hurt bad. Yes, that through
no fault of their own. Okay, So so you have
this dilemma.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
I I.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
It sounds to me like you're not looking at a
date certain by which you have to move, but you
know it's.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Coming right right. We're just preparing for the inevitable, whether
that's three years, five years, ten years. We were just
trying to have a suitable, you know, backup plan with
you know, the business that we're in being a good
driving business.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
So are you looking to buy the building next to
Jacob Wurtz? Are you looking to what do you what
do you want to have as the backup plan?
Speaker 5 (15:38):
So that building is in the adult zone, which that
zone was determined twenty five years ago before we opened
by the city and the guidelines the old combat zone,
like you talked about on your last show with mister Flynn.
The city gave us these guidelines that we had to
(15:59):
keep this business within these guidelines and there is a
map of them. You can look them up and there's
a blueprint of It's a very very small area they
gave us. But we have found a building that is
in this zone. That's why we apply to this and
we would like to buy it, but the landlord would
obviously like the leases to us, and either way it
would be a home for us.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So, so are you guys, is your company prepared? If
the landlord if it's empty at this point, the landlord
could do a couple of things. One he could try
to say, hey, how quickly can you can you get here?
Or he might say, look, I will do a series
of leases annually so that when you feel you got
to go, this building will await you. Are you I
(16:42):
assume you must be in and I don't want to
impose on your business negotiations, but I assume that there
must be some flexibility in both ends here if that's
the building you really want to get to.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
A few things I can't talk about. We do have
an NDA, but we.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Would and he is a non disclosure agreement. Go ahead,
yeaht to make sure that follows us. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Yes, So certain things that we have discussed and signed
with this landlord tentatively, you know, I can't say, but yes,
if there was a time that we could move and
then you know, the near future, because we do still
have time on our lease now and we would not
you know, break that lease at all, respectfully.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
So I got to take a break from my newscast
when we come back, I want to ask you just
a few more questions and understand why this topic has
percolated up. At this point, nothing is imminent. From what
I'm hearing you say, I want to I'll ask you
that question on the other side because it appears to
me I think I can calculate the answer.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
And then what what you've done to reach out to
the community or have you had an opportunity to yet.
So those are some of the questions I have. I'd
like to invite callers and listeners to join the conversation.
I mind my callers and listeners that we do polite
conversation here on Nightside. You might disagree with the type
of business that Centerfolds runs, and you're welcome to express that,
(18:10):
but please do not make it personal. And you know,
we do live in a society where different people enjoy
different types of businesses, and just because you don't, you
might not avail yourself as a customer. There may be
others who want want to. There may be listeners to
(18:31):
my show who have been there and can support what
Nick is saying about the quality of the premises and
the level of professionalism that is maintained. I just want
to give him the same or equal opportunity to discuss
this as Ed Flynn, Consul of Flint, did the other night,
(18:52):
and we will be back if you'd like to join
the conversation. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty
six one seven nine three. My guess Nick d Philippo,
he's the general manager of Centerfolds in Boston, and the
story has been in the Globe at least I'm not
sure if it's been in the Herald. But well, we'll
explore a little bit more and with your phone calls,
(19:13):
we will hopefully have a fear and polite conversation from
now until eleven back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Right after this, you're on night Side with Dan Ray
on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
We're talking about Centerfolds Boston. It's an adult entertainment, a
gentleman's club, described by Nick d Philippo, who is the
general manager. We talked about this on Monday night with
Boston City Council Ed Flynn. There was a story in
the Boston Globe. Nick, what got this story going in
the Globe? What's the genesis of the sounds to me
(19:53):
like that nothing imminent is about to happen, So somehow,
some way, someone must be pushing this this story, any
idea what prompted the Globe to open this can of
worms up as it were.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
So there was a story posted by the Herald as well,
and that one was when we went to the zoning board.
So that's public record, as you know. So we're in
the you know, the tentative stages of applying for the
zoning and you know, taking the proper steps to move
forward through the city and state guidelines. So once that
(20:27):
became public record, then the obviously the news and the
media started asking some questions and posted the story.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, so the Herald really broke the story, and the
Globe followed up on it, and now we're talking about it.
So what is the reaction? Ed Flynn, as I'm sure
you heard on Monday night, said that there's a lot
of people in the community that he referred to as Chinatown,
which is, you know, a residential community. It may be
a next to or near the you know what had
(20:56):
been zoned for adulta entertainment, the old combat zone. And
by the way, Ed Flinn said that when his dad
became mayor, there were forty four establishments, not like yours,
because you describe you as as a gentleman's club. There
were a lot of them that were pretty tawdry places
back in the day, going back to the nineteen eighties,
(21:18):
and I guess there's only two of these clubs that exist.
Was he accurate when he gave me those statistics on Monday?
Speaker 5 (21:28):
Yes, yep. In the seventies, eighties, and I believe early nineties,
that's when I believe his father was starting to clean
up the old combat zone at the meaning, you know,
getting rid of some of these places. You know, it
was more than just clubs. There were stores and peep
shows and oh yeah, you know, you know, so the
(21:48):
sex stores and stuff like that. So you know, it
has come a very long way since those days, I
will tell you that.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
So, what has been the feedback from the community. And
yet I know that a lot of people would say, hey,
you know, I might not mind it down where it is,
but I wouldn't want one in my community. But for
people for whom that is their community, you can understand
that they have some questions. Have you reached out to
(22:17):
the Chinatown community. Has there been any sort of conversation.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Back and forth so yet? And no, we haven't had
anybody reach out to us directly. You know, we are
a part of the community and we try to be
the best neighbors we can. We support all the local
restaurants and anything around here. We have a food runner
that gets food for the staff all night long, and
you know the majority of that are from the neighbor's restaurants.
(22:43):
So anytime we go in, it's always friendly, Hi hugs,
and how you doing. So we haven't got any negative
blowback our way that we're aware of.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You know, the impression that I got from Ed Flynn
on Monday was that this probably nothing that can be
done by the city to legally prevent you from making
this move, and that the one thing that Ed Flynn
seemed to be emphasizing was he wanted to get public input.
(23:13):
It doesn't sound to me like you're opposed to that,
so no, I.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Mean, I believe, you know, the community should have a voice,
the public input. This is the same. So what we're doing,
Dan is we're essentially going back twenty five years to
before this club opened, when there was only one Gentleman's gool.
It was a strip club, the glass Slip it down here,
and this is what we went through. I wasn't a
(23:38):
part of it then, But the original owners had to
go through the neighborhood, the community, and they understood that.
And the reason the zoning is the way it is
is because of what they did then. So the fruits
of that is now what we're dealing with, and we're
trying to abide by those guidelines.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
And in terms of the hours that there's no other
issue that the community is upset by. And I know
Boston is still at two o'clock city. It's not like
New York where places, restaurants and bars and other activities
can stay open until four in the morning. I assume
you comply with the rules and regulations that any other establishment,
(24:22):
either like yours or that serves alcohol has to close
up by a certain hour.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
Absolutely, two am is the absolute last second you could
be here. Our license states that there's no drinking after
two am. Ninety nine percent of the time, we are
cleared long before two thirty, which our license states the
last patron has to be out by two thirty. So,
you know, we don't have any issues with that kind
of thing. Absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
And fortunately you haven't had any issues with you know, fisticuffs,
brawls or whatever nothing out of the extraordinary. People are
going in there, they're not angry, they're they're happy to
be in this location and avail themselves of the entertainment
that your your club provides. Correct.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Yeah, that's for the boss. Uh. You know, that kind
of stuff doesn't happen with us. Like I said, we're
a gentleman's club, and the people that come in here
want to be happy. They come here to relax and
you know, the music isn't loud, and they can watch
a game and they can you know, watch them a
friendly about entertainment in a clean environment and you know,
not hostile whatsoever. And we luckily avoid all those issues
(25:37):
because of the temperament of my staff and the way
the businesses are in.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, and I assume that you would have enough people
and your staff to make sure that that nothing's going
to get out of control, and if somebody is not
behaving properly, they will be told politely that their presence
is no longer permitted.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
Yes, and you know, it's very rare that that does happen.
But as we have many qualified, highly trained staff members
that can see a situation and you know, make sure
it doesn't escalate. Very quickly.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Okay, So the community, I don't want to get hung
up in this, but I don't know who represents the community.
There must be organizations either you know, business organizations or whatever,
but they had not reached out to you, even with
all the publicity that has been generated in the last
(26:30):
few weeks.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
So the Lower End Washington Street group did call in
support of us, and they did come out and say
they were in support of us. So that was the
only community outreach that we've received. I can't speak on,
you know, any other parts of it. But again, the
address is literally directly behind us. So other than Lagrange
(26:55):
Street being more of a side street like you had
said with mister Flynn, to Stuart Street is more of
a front facing really shouldn't be that big of a
difference in the move. It's not going to cause any
harm that it already wouldn't be, and we aren't.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
So will the city try to restrict The one objection
that I'm sure that someone's going to raise is that
being on what I would call a front facing street,
you're going to be on if you are successful here,
you'll be on Stuart Street. I think you would be
looking directly at some of the medical centers if I'm
not mistaken.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
The hotel it's a Maxie hotel. There's a parking garage
directly in front of the building, and then the dental
school for toughs I believe, and then the medical buildings
are down the street. So it's kind of a variety
of Okay.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
So the question is, obviously, like any business, you're going
to want to advertise the business. Are you prepared to
work with the city if they say, hey, we don't
mind you advertising here, but you got to keep it
within reasons so that you're you're able to effectively advertise
(28:08):
your presence, but at the same time, have it done tastefully.
I'm searching for words here A nix.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
No.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
We always comply with anything the city requests or requires
for us to do our advertisements. We only do an
online you know, we have a website. We do a
little promotions through some of the major steakhouses and some
of the hotels just for the you know, the guests
that come into the city for like I said that,
the conventions and whatnot, and the business businesses, you know,
(28:40):
just regular business guys come or girls, you know, four days,
five days a week, Monday through Friday, and we get
a lot of those people. So anything that the city
would require or ask of us, we would one hundred
percent comply with no questions asked.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Okay, we'll get some phone calls. On the other side,
I got to take a quick break here. I think
you represent your establishment very well. Uh, And I know
that sometimes people can get a little heated on this issue.
But I know that my calls will behave themselves. And
if you want to ask Nick d Philippo a question,
(29:15):
make a comment, particularly if you happen to be listening
in the in the area close to the club and
you'd like to join the conversation. Six one seven, two, five,
four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three ten thirty.
We will be back on night Side, final segment with
my guest, the general manager of the Centerfolds Boston Gentlemen's Club,
(29:37):
Nick d Philippo. Back right after this quick break.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Night Side with Dan Ray ONBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
All right, here we go, let's go. Let's get some
phone calls here, Nick. My guest is Nick d Philippo.
He's the general manager of Centerfolds in Boston. I'm going
to go first to dot who's in Medford, Dot. Welcome
are you tonight?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (30:01):
Hi Dan, and Hi Nick.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
Hi Dot.
Speaker 6 (30:05):
I'm just calling to say I'm wishing you all the
best in your business. And I'm ninety years old and
my husband's been dead for over forty and he used
to like to go to the Squire's in Revere. But
he'd liked to have a couple of drinks, and of
(30:27):
course I was a shelfeur. I had to go with him.
And he would say every couple of months, he'd say,
if you'l like going over Revere tonight. I'd say sure,
I'd get in the car take them over. He liked
to have He worked hard, he liked to have a
couple of drinks and enjoy the show. And I was
(30:48):
right there.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
By the way.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
You're welcome here anytime, Dot, I would love to have
you with my guest.
Speaker 6 (30:55):
Well, I don't get around too much anymore, but I
just wanted to call. I think it's such an interesting
subject and I don't see a fling along with it.
You've got business men coming in town, you get people traveling.
Two of us. They want to go out and have
a little fun.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
Nothing wrong with it, Thank you, Dot. I'm from Medfic
born and raised go Mustangs, and I appreciate your call.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
Oh okay, well, no, that's great. Well, all the best
to you.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
You know, if Nick was if Nick was single here Dot,
I think we could get something going here. But I
don't think he's here.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
You know he is he is?
Speaker 6 (31:33):
He a hundred. I only go for guys that are
one hundred. All right, well, listen, all the best.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Well Dot, thank you, Dot. I appreciate your call.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Okay, thanks, DoD, appreciate your call very much. But by
the way, Dot doesn't sound like she's a hundred. She's
very strong and U and she did. She turned ninety
on Halloween. Uh to know that for a fact, because
we sent out a special happy Birthday wish to Dot
(32:07):
that night. And she's one of our most loyal listeners.
I never knew that she would drive her husband to
the Squire.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
However, See, hey, we're like a speak easy right, like
everybody knows what's going on, just everybody kind of doesn't
talk about that's all, you know, nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
No, No, I do understand. And as I say, I
think that that the way you've described this clubs, I
suspect that you're not going to have any problem at
all sit in the in the couple of minutes that
we have left, I think you did the right thing
(32:44):
by coming on tonight and explaining the circumstances and the
situation that you're dealing with. How how smooth do you
think this transition will be? And do you have any
estimate to ask you like a couple of news type
questions here? Do you think we're talking a couple of
(33:04):
years down the road? My sense is that, as I
mentioned earlier, my sense from talking with you today and
also talking with you tonight, is that that's nothing that's
imminent here.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
So first, I want to thank you for having us
on the show. I really appreciate that listening to both sides,
very very thoughtful, and you know, you're great at your
job and you've been in the business this long for that.
So I just want to commend you for that.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I appreciate it. I appreciate that. Again, I feel that,
you know, we had a very fiery hour at nine
o'clock talking about bike lanes and automobiles and all of that.
Every story has at least two sides. Some stories have
more than two sides. That's what I learned a long
time ago. So thanks, thanks for the kind comment. Right
back at you on all of that for coming on.
(33:49):
So it's it's not imminent, but give me an idea
about will you think this is gonna gonna end up?
Speaker 5 (33:56):
So you know, it takes a little while with the
licensing and that in the breakdown and the zoning and
the building and you know construction pyramits and stuff like
that as you know, but you know, bust and it's busy.
You know, it's busy in all aspects, not just the
night life, daytime construction that you know, Boston is always
upgrading and doing better or keeping things historically, they're always
(34:18):
doing something. So we don't anticipate anything you know, in
the next six months, you know, if I had to guess,
you know, between two to three years. I mean, that's
that's the shot. It's also least depending if we get
a little extension here and that buys us a little
more time to work with the city and do what
they want us to do. You know, that works too.
So you know, like I said, we're just looking for
(34:40):
a smooth transition to go and keep doing our business
equitably and you know, having a hospitality business for the
conventions and the big money that does want to come
into the city. And I know you read what I
said in the Globe, and I understand people's point of
view on it, being I said, you can't be a
major city and get major conventions without adult entertainment. And
(35:03):
I stand by that because at the end of the day,
there's a convention committee and what their job is is
to see the hotel rooms, the restaurants, the nightlife, the accommodations,
the casinos, anything in the convention center. You know, I
don't know a couple miles that's their job. And they
do look at us, even though people might not think
(35:24):
they do, they one hundred percent do. And you know
it's a necessity. It's for some people, like our friend
DoD said, it might not be for everybody, but you'd
be surprised that some of the people that do come
through the doors.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Well, I think that I understand exactly what you're saying,
and I also think that as long as it's being
run in the way in which you suggest it, I
do know that there have been places around the country
where women are somehow conscripted almost and if it's against
their will in any way, shape or form, that cannot
(35:59):
be tolerated.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
I assume would be the.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Women who were displaying their wares publicly are doing it
you know, with some pride and uh and and and
and and feeling as if they are they have a profession,
and maybe that leads to other professions, good professions, meaning
they may meet people at that club who are in
business and they end up on different career paths. No one,
(36:26):
no one does this for for their entire lives lives,
There's no question about that. But again, I thank you
for coming on. It's a it's a sensitive subject. Nobody
was super critical of of what you guys are doing.
You you handle this very well tonight, Nick, and I
appreciate you taking the time and reaching out. I wish
(36:46):
more organizations and businesses who we might talk about reach
out so we can give them the opportunity also to
present themselves in the best like possible, which you did tonight.
So I thank you for joining us. I really do.
Speaker 5 (36:59):
I appreciate it, Dan, and thank you for having me again.
And you know, if like I said, if there's anything
we can do with the community in the city to
help this go forward, you know smoothly, and you know,
keep our good neighborhood the way it is, because you know,
China Town is also our neighborhood, and we'd like to
make sure everything just runs the way things should be, quietly, equitably,
(37:22):
and you know, having good neighbors is the number one
thing that we want to have and be, so that's
all we ask.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
That's great, Nick de Filippo, pleasure to talk with you,
best of like going forward, and if we need to
talk again, we'll be in touch. Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
All right, thank you, Dan, you very welcome.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
All right, so interesting subject. Not a lot of callers,
but you had the opportunity. We come back. I think
I want to talk about airline travel and I want
to talk about the inconvenience that a lot of people
are going to be dealing with in the next few days,
maybe even longer. Here comes the eleven o'clock news coming
back right after that.
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