Ivan Busheski, the nightlife guru behind the infamous lockdown-defying Soho party penthouse, has now brought his vivid brand of party drama to the Lower East Side.
Busheski and four others were charged with multiple offenses on New Year’s Eve when the city sheriff shut down an “illegal bottle club” at their 177 Prince Street loft — only to have robbers storm the place with a gun and knife later that month.
Now he claims he was attacked by a group of “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighters” bent on “[breaking] all my bones [and taking] my eyeballs” while he was finishing up his shift at La Boite, where he’s also a manager, on early Friday morning.
“All my security guys are inside, escorting people, making sure everything is closed [when] all of a sudden, I see like three undercover cops and [State Liquor Authority Agents] ready to shut me down. And then all of a sudden like five guys started running towards the door as the cops did nothing. I was so confused,” Busheski, who was standing inside the closed door of the hotspot at the time of the alleged attack, told Page Six. “If I would’ve gone outside, they were going to break all my bones, take my eyeballs out while the police did nothing.”
Busheski claims the gang threw a brick into the glass door as they ran towards him.
“They tried to get over me to get inside. They were tall and in formation like a Navy SEAL and the cops were watching from behind,” he said. “These guys were running, smashing the door and the police were too relaxed. They could have intervened and stopped everything.”
Police did eventually arrest someone, but he did not press charges because, “I want to know what’s going on. I have 30 days [to press charges],” he said.
The NYPD told us that “police observed a male throw a brick at [La Boite’s] window breaking it and gave chase,” and that they took a man into custody. They said he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct.
The cops also said that “police, along with agents of the New York State Liquor Authority observed more than 50 individuals inside of the location, many not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.”
Busheski was accused of throwing illegal parties at the venue last spring when it was named Omar’s at La Boite and helmed by nightlife impresario Omar Hernandez.
Busheski denied he was defying COVID lockdown orders by hosting the parties and Hernandez distanced himself from the brand and took his name off the hot spot.
Busheski told us that he had been raided 11 times at his Soho penthouse, where the armed robbery took place.
He says he is starting to believe that the attacks are a conspiracy to shut him down.
“Is this ever going to stop? They attack me so much, but this wasn’t like kids on the streets. These [people] are professionals,” he said.
After the attack on Thursday night, he says police and the SLA investigated the restaurant.
“They were checking our liquor license,” he claimed, alleging that officers yelled, “We’re going to arrest you.”
“One of the guys — major police guy — said, ‘We’re going to get this motherf—ker somehow,’” he alleged, “Another cop was in the corner googling me. I was feeling dizzy and my finger was broken. I asked them 10 times to call 911. They tried to deny me medical assistance intentionally,” he said.
The NYPD told us, “According to the NYPD supervisor who was present, at no time did Ivan Busheski, have visible injuries or say he’d been assaulted.”
