Sad news today for Abdul Khanu, his waterfront venue has been closed by ABRA Board. This is bad news for Khanu who was just seen relaxing with us last week at Josephines on friday night.
After three successive incidents at H2O during the early morning of August 23, the D. C. Chief of Police closed H2O for a 96-hour period until the city’s Alcohol Beverage Control Board could review the situation. Each of the three incidents was a violent felony assault either inside of or related to activities of the establishment and serious enough to require the victims to be hospitalized.
The rationale for the closing according to the Chief of Police was “to ameliorate the danger the establishment presents to public safety.” On August 27,2008, after testimony by two detectives for the Attorney General’s office and four ABRA investigators, the ABRA Board decided to keep the license suspended past the 96-hour period until a Show Cause hearing is held on October 22, 2008. A “show cause” hearing is held by ABRA “whenever the Board has reasonable cause to believe that any license or permit should be revoked or suspended.”
Following the closing of his massive waterfront venue, Khanu moved his birthday bash to neighboring Zanzibar restaurant. In unsurprising news, Zanzibar the titanic, three-story establishment that hasn't been doing so well with the seafood restaurant and was in danger of losing its liquor license, reversed its fortunes and won an appeal to become a nightclub.
More on this story here.
