The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of whether dancing in strip clubs is art.

The decision represents a significant setback to Steven Dick Jr., owner of Nite Moves, a nude club on Route 9 in Latham that pushed for the arguments.

"I hate it!" W. Andrew McCullough, the attorney for Dick's club and a longtime adult industry lawyer, told the Times Union in a phone interview Tuesday, several hours after the high court declined to hear the case.

"We did our very, very best," said McCullough, an Albany native now living in Utah, where he is running for attorney general. "But getting the attention of the Supreme Court in a situation like that is just (difficult)."

The state Division of Taxation, following an audit in 2005, said the admission charge and fees for private dances at Nite Moves should be subject to sales tax. The state assessed Nite Moves $124,921 in due taxes — plus interest — for the period from December 2002 through August 2005.

In turn, Dick's club argued that it was exempt under state tax law, which allows exceptions for "dramatic or musical arts performances" or "cabaret or similar place."

The Court of Appeals, the top court in New York, rejected the club last year but in a close 4-3 call. Associate Judge Robert Smith, who by his own admission is "stuffy," sided with the club.

During those arguments, McCullough told the judges he understood strip pole-dancing was under consideration to become an Olympic sport.

"If it's under consideration as an Olympic sport, these girls certainly — the ones that you would see on these videos — would be in standing to make the team," he said at the time. "They're that good!"

On Tuesday, McCullough said he hoped the Supreme Court would listen to his case.

"We knew when we did it the odds were against us because they just don't take very many cases," he said. "But on the other hand, the Court of Appeals in New York does not take many cases. We got them to hear it."

McCullough and Dick say they will not give up on convincing a court that stripping should be tax-free like other forms of dance. A new state sales tax audit is under way and McCullough promised he would build a "stronger and harder case that will be that much harder to dismiss" if Nite Moves goes back to court over the issue.

"The law has, we think, made it easier since this started," McCullough said. "We think with a little planning and a little work and some assistance, we can yet win the next round. We believe that."