Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal

HOBOKEN — The business partners behind Hoboken nightclub The Hub are turning on one another in the wake of the sex show that landed the club in legal jeopardy and placed The Hub's future in doubt.

The two groups of owners have filed competing complaints in Hudson County Superior Court as city officials weigh whether to yank the bar’s liquor license over the raunchy episode, caught on videos that went viral.

One group alleges the second group is solely responsible for the “repugnant, debasing” acts captured on video last month. The second group claims it spent more than $2 million renovating The Hub as the first group refused to help and schemed to take over the place.

And, this being New Jersey, some of the allegations involve a pizza joint.

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Corey W. McDonald | The Jersey Journal

The Hub shut down on Sept. 12 after police saw the videos of an unidentified man and a woman committing multiple sex acts in front of a crowd inside the bar the weekend before. The city's Alcoholic Beverage Control board filed 15 charges against the bar, and more are coming.

The plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuits are largely a collection of limited liability companies controlled by the individuals behind some of the city's most popular nightspots, not just The Hub but Texas Arizona, Cadillac Cantina and Birch. All four are located just steps from Hoboken's PATH station and transit hub.

The business interests are largely intertwined. Determining their ownership is like disassembling a Russian nesting doll. The Hub is owned by an LLC called HubNJ Group, which is owned by four other LLCs. Three of those are owned by one individual each. The fourth is owned by two other LLCs, each owned by one man.

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Some of the people who own The Hub also owned the previous tenant at 16 Hudson Pl., Teak on the Hudson. (Saed Hindash | The Star-Ledger)

Here are the players:

Married couple Mario and Dian Fini along with Patrick Cappiello are managing members of 16-18 & 20 Hudson Place Realty, the company that co-owns 16 Hudson Pl. That’s the massive building that houses The Hub. Mario Fini is a real-estate broker and battalion chief with the city's fire department. Cappiello is a retired fire captain and nephew of the late Steve Cappiello, who was Hoboken’s 35th mayor.

Cappiello and his wife, Debra, control another LLC, PDC 16-20 Hudson Place Realty, that is the second co-owner of 16 Hudson Pl.

The Finis and Patrick Cappiello also own an LLC called Teak on the Hudson. That’s the company that controls The Hub’s liquor license. It was also the name of the restaurant/nightclub located at 16 Hudson Pl. before The Hub opened there in April 2017.

Brothers James and Brian McCue manage one LLC each that own a combined 66 percent of HubNJ Group. The Finis and Cappiello each also own an LLC with a combined 33 percent ownership stake in HubNJ Group. James McCue, meanwhile, owns a 1 percent stake in Teak on the Hudson LLC.

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media

Two days after The Hub shut down, the Finis and Cappiello began eviction proceedings against HubNJ Group. A court hearing is scheduled for this month.

On Sept. 17, the trio, in their capacity as part owners of The Hub, filed a seven-count complaint against the McCues in Hudson County Superior Court's chancery division, seeking a judge to remove the McCues' LLCs as co-managers of HubNJ Group; stop the use of any funds in the bar's bank accounts; appoint a special fiscal agent to take control of the bar; immediately suspend all of The Hub's social media accounts; and dissolve HubNJ Group.

In that complaint, the Finis and Cappiello allege that the McCues mismanaged the bar and that James McCue was present the night the sex acts were caught on video.

"Defendant James McCue witnessed the lewd acts and did absolutely nothing to stop their occurrence," the lawsuit says.

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Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

On Sept. 27, three LLCs controlled by the McCues filed an 11-count lawsuit against the Finis, Cappiello and the multiple LLCs they control. The brothers say that, after Teak on the Hudson closed, the Finis and Cappiello said they would help pay for renovations at 16 Hudson Pl. to make way for The Hub, then did not contribute any cash. The brothers also allege the Finis and Cappiello were supposed to sign over control of the Teak liquor license to them but failed to do so.

The McCues also allege that all five parties plus Peter Belasco, of Glen Rock, partnered in Venti Woodstone, the pizza place next door to The Hub. The McCues and Belasco allege the Finis did not contribute cash toward starting up Venti and then demanded nearly $250,000 in rent and late fees from the McCues and Belasco.

Michael Profita, who represents the Finis and Cappiello, told The Jersey Journal that the three did indeed contribute cash toward The Hub renovation; that the McCues, and not his clients, were supposed to handle the paperwork involved in the liquor license transfer; and that the McCues and the Finis paid 50 percent of the startup costs for Venti.

A request for comment from the McCues' attorney was not returned.

The eviction proceedings are scheduled to be heard by a judge on Friday. The Hub's hearing in front of the city's ABC board is scheduled for Oct. 25.

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Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.