Strip club owner sues NY Gov. Cuomo for forcing his business to close: 'Huge overstep of executive power'

A New York strip club owner is fed up with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his orders to shut down so-called nonessential businesses.

So he's suing the governor — and making no bones about his feelings for the liberal executive — the New York Post reported.

What's he suing Cuomo for?

Sean McCarthy, owner of the Blush Gentleman's Club on Long Island, filed a lawsuit against the governor over his executive orders that forced nonessential businesses closed during the coronavirus epidemic.

According to the suit filed over the weekend, Cuomo's edict was an unconstitutional "breach" of his duty and caused "immediate and irreparable harm and actual and undue hardship" for McCarthy, according to the Post.

The club owner claims he can run his business through social distancing — though he didn't explain how that would work in a strip joint — and "strict hygiene" by staff, the paper said.

Cuomo isn't 'a king'

McCarthy's lawyer, Joe Murray, lit into the governor, saying, "Governor Cuomo is engaged in a huge overstep of executive power," the Post reported.

"He is infringing on people's fundamental civil rights far beyond the least restrictive means allowable under the constitution," Murray continued.

"Someone should remind him he is the governor and not the king," he added.

A Cuomo spokesman told the Post, "This executive authority was passed by the legislature and, as we were able to bend the curve and upend the models showing even higher hospitalizations and deaths, it was necessary to fight this ‎pandemic.

"But this is clearly the most New York Post story ever and I acknowledge that," the spokesman said.

Not just Cuomo

The Post reported that McCarthy is also suing the federal government because he and other strip club owners were denied funds from the federal government's bailout for small businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program.

The PPP declared that sex-related businesses were ineligible for federal loans under the stimulus plan.

The paper said McCarthy is looking for a jury trail, and at least $150,000 in damages and attorney costs.

The federal government has not yet responded, according to the Post.