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. Saturdays to 4 a.m. on Sundays. Two private groups currently host invite-only events at the club, the club’s owner Glen Ross Easthorpe told The Tribune.

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.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The New Yorker Building on Market Street, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, where the New Yorker Social Club is open for late-night weekend business. (Rick Egan/)

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.

—Tribune reporter Kolbie Peterson contributed to this story.

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