He is best known as the former owner of several prominent New York City nightclubs, including Club USA, The Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel.
[1] His first business venture was a jeans store in his home town, which he opened with a $13,000 settlement after he lost an eye in a hockey accident.
[2] After that, he turned a former country western bar into a rock club called Aardvark and booked the band Rush to perform.
[4] A 1996 federal investigation attempted but failed to link Gatien to the sales of party drugs,[5] especially ecstasy, in his clubs.
[7] In 2003, he was deported to his native Canada, under the Department of Homeland Security immigration laws which order the removal of any alien (non-citizen) convicted of a felony.