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Judge: Hustler Club Must Pay Back Taxes For Lap Dances

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An administrative law judge has ruled that the owners of the Hustler Club along the Westside Highway owe $2. 1million for failing to collect sales taxes on lap dances.

The Jan. 30 ruling against the Hustler Club, 641 W. 51st St., echoed other recent court decisions which have held that strip club lap dances don't qualify for a state sales-tax exemption on ``dramatic, choreographic or musical'' performances.

Judge Donna Gardiner wrote in the decision that while the Hustler Club's performers used choreography, the service they provided was ``sexual fantasy, not dance.''

The club's attorney, Bradley Shafer, said the state's tax is unconstitutional because it is based on the content of the performances.

He said the club's legal challenge isn't over.

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