'''Scores''' is a [[strip club]] in [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]], and is one of several [[Gentlemen's club (adult entertainment)|gentlemen's clubs]] which changed the face of [[adult entertainment]] in that city during the early [[1990s]] and has gained wider notoriety mostly due to frequent mention by [[Howard Stern]]. 

==Competition, history, publicity==
Similar clubs that opened during this period include [[Flashdancers]] and [[Goldfinger's]].  Scores followed suit, opening as a venue run by businessmen from [[Denver]] and [[Texas]]. Later, it was taken over by New Yorkers and became at one point embroiled in controversy over alleged [[Mafia]] connections. Scores has attracted a lot publicity due to [[comp]]ing a lot of free visits to Howard Stern, who often mentions the club on his [[radio]] show, along with attracting a fair amount of [[celebrity]] guests. The somewhat lesser known but earlier established Flashdancers actually holds claim though of being NYC's first "[[table dance]]r" club, begun in 1991 with the consulting help of Centerfold Stars (BookCenterfolds talent agency). These clubs, along with Tens (formerly Stringfellows) are considered to be "gentrifying" clubs; displacing the old B-girl hustle bar in Manhattan with lavish adult nightclubs.

==High rollers==
"American Express says in papers filed in state court that [[SAVVIS|Savvis Inc.]] chief executive officer Robert A. McCormick was in the club Scores in October 2003 with at least three other men. After McCormick got the $241,000 corporate credit card bill, Savvis called American Express and complained that some of the charges were fraudulent, the lawsuit says. The communications company said its chief disputed all but about $20,000, according to the lawsuit. [...] The lawsuit filed Wednesday against McCormick and Savvis is at least the third in the past two years involving contested credit card charges at Scores. One patron sued the club after he got a $28,000 bill and another disputed $129,000 in charges. After a lawsuit last year, Scores spokesman Lonnie Hanover said that ''high rollers'' visiting Scores' ''super elite Presidents' Club'' spend thousands of dollars on single bottles of champagne and tip strippers as much as $10,000 for lap dances and for spending time with them. The district attorney's office has said it is investigating alleged overcharging at Scores. Hanover said that each time a patron spends $10,000, Scores calls the customer's credit card company to get the charges approved. Scores even fingerprints the customer and requires him to get on the telephone with a credit card representative, he said." [http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/21/D8DCHJ087.html]

==Popular culture==
On an episode of [[Saturday Night Live]]'s [[Weekend Update]], anchor [[Tina Fey]], upon reporting that former writer and castmember [[Al Franken]] was considering a run for the [[U.S. Senate]] from his home state of [[Minnesota]], stated that if he were to win the seat, "he would be the "first SNL alum to hold office since last year, when [[Tracy Morgan]] declared himself to be the 'Mayor of Scores'."

In the movie [[Rounders (film)|Rounders]], which is set in New York City, Scores is briefly mentioned.

==Alleged tax evasion==
In February 2006 a Manhattan [[grand jury]] returned [[tax evasion]] indictments against two Scores executives and a bookkeeper. Manhattan's District Attorney said that an investigation into customers' complaints of overcharging revealed a scheme by Scores' managers involving [[shell companies]], the pressuring of some strippers into giving [[kickback|kickbacks]], and the falsification of [[income tax]] returns.

==External links==

* [http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=364 Confessions of a Scores Strip Club Bouncer (Maxim)]

[[Category:Strip clubs]]
[[Category:Landmarks in New York City]]
[[Category:Howard Stern Show]]