Human trafficking unit targets Gossip strip club amid ex-dancer’s lurid lawsuit

Owner hit with five ABC Law violations during Friday night’s inspection in Melville

A former dancer alleges management sold sex access to customers

Suffolk Police’s Human Trafficking Unit descended on Gossip Night Club in Melville Friday night — the same strip club battling a bombshell sex trafficking lawsuit from a former dancer turned attorney.

Owner Brian Rosenberg, 61, of Garden City, was cited with five ABC Law violations following the 11:35 p.m. inspection at the club on Broad Hollow Road, police said on Saturday.

Second Precinct Crime Section officers also participated in the SLA inspection — in response to a community complaint, police said. The inspection included members of the New York State Liquor Authority, along with Town of Huntington Fire Marshal and Town of Huntington ordinance inspector.

The Town of Huntington Fire Marshal filed seven fire code violations against the establishment, police said.

The SLA observed several violations and will be conducting a further investigation into the establishment, police said.

It’s unclear if the violations forced a temporary closure of the business. Greater Long Island has reached out to the Huntington fire marshal, Paul Latuso, and will update this story with his response.

Rosenberg is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip on May 29.

DeMaria’s 47-page complaint alleges that Gossip operated a sex trafficking scheme where management “sold off the very safety they had already charged the dancers to provide.”

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, names Rosenberg as a defendant and includes allegations of soundproofed VIP rooms locked from the outside, managers acting as procurement agents for wealthy clients and a systematic campaign to get dancers drunk and compliant.

DeMaria’s complaint seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, lost wages, injunctive relief to shut down Gossip’s business model, attorneys’ fees and a jury trial.

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