Search warrant at private Salt Lake City club leads to two arrests, drug seizures

Salt Lake City police executed a search warrant at an exclusive Salt Lake City nightclub Saturday morning, leading to two arrests — along with the seizure of firearms, marijuana and cocaine.

The New Yorker Social Club on 60 W. Market Street operates as a private event space and not a standard bar — so it’s able to stay open later, from about 1:30 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Saturday mornings, and opens again from about 9 p.m. on Saturdays to 4 a.m. on Sundays. Two private groups currently host invite-only events at the club, the club’s owner Glen Ross Easthope told The Tribune.

The club was the subject last week of a Salt Lake Tribune story detailing months of trouble near the property.

Authorities said Saturday’s search warrant was part of an “ongoing criminal investigation,” which began in June related to “alleged conduct” inside of the club. The department enhanced weekend patrols around the club as part of that investigation and in response to several nearby shootings.

According to court documents, the business was recently served with two eviction notices — and in the most recent notice, a law firm representing the club’s landlord cited three of these shootings as a reason for the eviction.

Detectives seized marijuana, cocaine, cash, more than 100 bottles of alcohol and four firearms during Saturday’s search. Two people were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of unlawful drug possession with the intent to distribute and the illegal possession of a firearm, according to a news release.

The Salt Lake City Fire Department also determined that the club was in violation of fire code, and declared the building unsafe. Further information about the club’s continuing operation was not immediately available.

Since authorities began enhanced patrols around the club on June 9, officers have arrested 15 people — and have also confiscated cocaine, marijuana and six firearms. Authorities did not identify the two individuals who were arrested Saturday morning.

According to police calls for service data obtained through an open records request, police were called 60 times — and officers generated 23 calls — near the club’s Market Street address from July 5, 2022, to July 5, 2023. The calls included 11 reported assaults, one of which involved a gun, and two of which were against police officers.

Club controversy

The New Yorker Social Club is technically what’s called a “DBA,” or a “doing business as,” according to records obtained from the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. This means it’s owned by a separate establishment — in this case, Button Up Bar LLC, which is doing business as the New Yorker Social Club.

The building that houses the club is owned by a limited liability company (LLC) in a family trust, which came out of the estate of the building’s previous owner, well-known Salt Lake City restauranteur John Williams, who was killed by his estranged husband in 2016.

On July 11, the building’s landlord, New York Building LLC, filed an unlawful detainer complaint against Button Up Bar and New York Social Club owner Glen Easthope, arguing the club is occupying the space unlawfully. According to court documents, Easthope owes $60,860 in past due rent and $23,871.61 in past due utility charges, but Zack Winzeler, an attorney for the landlord, said those amounts continue to accrue.

The shootings cited in the club’s latest eviction notice included one on April 1, and two in June. The detainer complaint filed by the building’s landlord states that the man killed June 4 was of one of the club’s patrons and that the shootings were possibly gang-related — however, Easthope said in a text the shootings had “nothing to do with our club or its members.”

SLCPD spokesperson Brent Weisberg confirmed that officers responded to the area of 60 W. Market St. on April 1 to investigate a possible shooting. When they arrived, they found two cars with gunfire damage but no one injured, he said. The case remains under investigation.

“Many of the shootings and the incidents that occurred in June 2023 have a gang nexus,” Weisberg said. “At this time, we cannot discuss the specificity of each case, but we can confirm detectives with our Gang Unit have been heavily involved with these investigations.”

Easthope was previously accused of operating an unlicensed massage business out of his Centerville home, which operated from about October 2013 to March 2014, according to court records. He was eventually convicted of doing business without a license, a class C misdemeanor, and one count of unlawful massage therapy, a class B misdemeanor.

Easthope was also a co-owner of the since-shuttered Echo Nightclub at 134 W. Pierpont Ave in downtown Salt Lake City. He is in the midst of an ownership dispute with one of his business partners, civil court filings show.

Because of the dispute, Echo and the conjoined Karma nightclub forfeited its liquor license in May.

Easthope also had two tax liens filed against him by the Utah Tax Commission in the past decade: Both were filed in 2nd District Court against Easthope and his wife — one for $7,870.05, filed on Feb. 21, 2022; and another for $6,611.02, filed on May 22, according to a Utah state court records search.