Page 350 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

348  TR A VELERS ’ NEEDS

Clubs, Dance Halls, and
Gay and Lesbian Venues pay a cover charge; many of
the clubs also require that you
have at least two drinks.
New York’s nightlife and club scene is legendary, and More cabarets can be found
deservedly so. Whatever your preference – be it a plush club on pages 350–51.
with pricey bottle service, an old-school disco, or the soothing Marie’s Crisis Café is a
sounds and cocktails of a piano bar – you’ll be amazed at the legendary Greenwich Village
choice. There was a rash of big discos in the 1980s and 1990s, piano bar where patrons are
invited and encouraged to
but few of these have survived and now the hip crowds tend sing cabaret standards and hit
to gravitate towards stylish, yet often casual, bars and lounges. showtunes. Uncle Charlie’s
maintains a lively piano
lounge and gay bar, giving
When and Where most happening neighborhood, patrons of the nearby Theater
The best and hippest time for and the casual bOb Bar District a chance to belt out
clubbing is during the week – promises a hopping dance floor their own versions of Broadway
it’s also a lot cheaper. Take some packed with diverse crowds favorites after a show. Joe’s
ID to prove your age (the legal grooving to old-school hip-hop Pub at the Public Theater has
minimum is over 21) and a fair and party tunes. Another venue decent food and a wonderful
amount of money – all the that’s always packed is Webster array of perform ances and
drinks are very expensive. Hall, an elder statesman of NYC musical acts.
The trendiest clubs roll on nightlife that offers four floors Venues aimed at gay men
until 4am or later. Fashions of R&B, pop, electro, or house include the trendy, traditional
and club nights change all (when it’s not hosting a special uptown TownHouse, a piano
the time, so check club details event). By comparison, Cielo bar with restaurant, and
in the listings magazines (see is embracing the 21st century. Don’t Tell Mama, a long-
p334) and read the Village This sleek, upscale room established gay bar that
Voice to keep up to date aimed mostly at those who presents good musical revues
with what’s what. The most love electronica boasts a along with spoofs. Popular gay
cutting-edge places nowadays killer sound system that cabarets include the Duplex,
are often popularized by word envelops dancers as they which has a mix of stand-up
of mouth or Twitter, and jostle in a sunken living-room comics, comedy sketches
organized by outfits that dance floor. and singers.
tend to host club nights in Marquee is another For raunchy neo-burlesque
a variety of locations such as A-list spot in Chelsea, with a shows, a popular genre in New
Blackmarket Membership glass-enclosed VIP mezzanine York, try the Slipper Room.
(blkmarketrsvp@gmail.com), that draws Hollywood starlets.
Tiki Disco (tikidisco.com), and Check out also the monthly
Mister Saturday Night (www. dance parties at the American Gay and
Lesbian Venues
mistersaturdaynight.com). Museum of Natural History’s
trippy Rose Center, dubbed The years since the mid-
“One Step Beyond at the 1990s have seen the arrival
Dancing
Rose Center.” of clubs and restaurants
New Yorkers thrive on music Those who want to bop specifically geared to gay and
and dancing. The dance floors to 1980s classics head to lesbian clientele. Magazines
available all around the city the Pyramid Club, a mainstay such as the Village Voice and
range from the ever-popular since 1979 and once infamous Time Out have good listings
SOB’s – for jungle, reggae, soul, for its gay and drag nights. of what’s happening in
jazz, and salsa – to a few huge Today it attracts a mix crowd the gay communities, and the
basketball-court-sized places, from Thursday to Saturday Gay Yellow Pages generally
such as Space Ibiza. This for the 80s-themed dance covers the gay scene. If you
legendary club, which started parties. Current trendsetters need more information,
out in Ibiza, has opened a in Brooklyn include the popular you can phone the Gay and
swanky venue in Midtown Williamsburg venue Output, Lesbian Switchboard.
and is consistently booking an industrial warehouse space. The Chelsea neighborhood,
top international DJs to make particularly around Eighth
the most of its colossal sound Piano Bars Avenue, is the bustling heart
system. This is the place for of New York’s gay life. The
those who enjoy pounding and Cabaret Hell’s Kitchen area, around
music, sweaty dance floors, New York piano bars and cabarets the mid-40s between Eighth
and a lively crowd. are less flashy than in the 1940s and 10th avenues, also thrums
To some, the formerly gritty and 1950s but they still boast a with gay nightlife – Barrage is
Lower East Side is the city’s wide variety of acts. Expect to a thriving bar featuring a

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