| Bars in New York City | Restaurants in New York City | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cheetah (Global's Favourite on certain days!) 12 W 21st St between Fifth and Sixth Aves (212-206-7770) Subway: F, N, R to 23rd St. Hours vary with event. While drink prices are outrageous and the crowd can tend toward model-worshippers and Eurotrash, the cheetah-print booths and indoor waterfall are fun. Purr, a hip-hop/R&B/classics party on Monday, is popular for its attractive, racially mixed crowd of trendy downtown heteros on the make. Plenty of models and celebs, too. Other nights, resident DJ Nelson "That Boy" Diaz is worth checking out for his masterful blending of salsa, merengue, house, disco, hip-hop and more. Life (Global's Favorite - only the VIP-section!) 158 Bleecker St at Thompson St (212-420-1999) Subway: A, C, E, B, D, F, Q to W 4th St-Washington Sq. Mon-Wed 10pm-4am, Thu-Sun 10pm-6am. Life opened in 1996 in Greenwich Village on the former site of the legendary jazz club the Village Gate. In a neighborhood already teeming with bars, the club initially attempted to keep the community happy by playing it safe musically and demographically. Interestingly, though there's plenty of Eurotrash and preppies in the main area. But there is also the best VIP-section in NYC, it's an own club in the club, with stylish people and tons of models and always famous celebs. There you will find also some surprisingly bohemian and off-the-wall stuff going on here. Thursdays are hip, drawing a beautiful, jaded but decadent downtown crowd, heavy on gay and fashion types. The music is a blend of underground vocal and instrumental house, while the VIP lounge (and pretty much everyone is a VIP on this night) features classics of all kinds--disco one week, new wave the next. Boy's Life on Sundays caters to gay gym-bunnies. Wednesday night is also very hot at the moment, drawing a mixed-to-queer crowd into glam rock, punk and posing; meanwhile, young mod types dance to Britpop and '60s soul, while an underground house party in the club's Sullivan Street Room draws a mix of music-industry types and the hard-core dance crowd. Depending on the night, you may not get in unless you're dressed up or are looking particularly stylish. NV 289 Spring St at Hudson St (212-929-NVNV)Subway: 1, 9 to Houston St; C, E to Spring St. Wed-Fri 4:30pm-4am; Sat 8pm-4am. NV, located just west of Soho, caters mainly to Eurotrash, yuppies, sports stars and model-worshippers, but worthwhile parties do take place on occasion. The Sunday-night Passion event draws an upscale, good-looking mixed-to-black crowd, there to groove to the music (hip-hop, R&B, classics) and each other. Nell's 246 W 14th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves (212-675-1567) Subway: A, C, E to 14th St; L to Eighth Ave. 10pm-4am. More than a decade old, Nell's is much the same as it's always been. Its formula: laid-back jazz and funky soul (often with live bands) upstairs, where there's a limited dining menu, and DJed hip-hop, R&B, reggae, house and classics below. The crowd is multiracial (leaning to black), dressed up, straight and ready to spend. Club New York 252 W 43rd St between Broadway and Eighth Ave(212997-9510) Subway: A, C, E, N, R, 1, 2, 3, 9, 7 to 42nd St. Hours vary with event. The very idea of Club New York triggers thoughts good and bad. In its prior incarnation, back when Times Square was an interesting sleaze zone and not a sanitized shopping mall, this was the legendary trannie hustler bar Sally's II, a major inspiration for the folks at Jackie 60, among others. It was closed down as part of the city's war on non-tourist-friendly culture. Still, the fact that the place has reopened as a club has made more than a few cynics smile a little. Granted, Club New York caters to a more mainstream, straight, well-behaved crowd than did Sally's. But much of the layout (including the fabulous circular bar) has been saved. Copacabana 617 W 57th St between Eleventh and Twelfth Aves (212-582-2672) Subway: A, C, B, D, 1, 9 to 59th St-Columbus Circle. Jun-Aug Tue 6pm-3am, Thu-Sat 6pm-4am; Sept-May Tue 6pm-3am, Fri 6pm-5am, Sat 10am-5pm. The truly legendary Copa is an upscale disco catering to a 25-plus, mainly black and Hispanic clientele. Although this isn't the exact same space Barry Manilow sang about (the club moved across town to its present space a few years back), the look and feel have been preserved with remarkable faithfulness. Live bands play salsa and merengue every night, and DJs fill the gaps with hip-hop, R&B, disco and Latin sounds. You saw it looking its best in Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas. The dress code requires customers to look "casual but nice": no jeans, sneakers or work boots, and gents must wear shirts with collars. Tunnel 220 Twelfth Ave at 27th St (212-695-4682) Subway: C, E to 23rd St. Fri 10pm-6am, Sat 11pm-noon, Sun 10pm-4am. A stunningly massive place with equally impressive decor--there's a unisex bathroom complete with a bar and banquettes, a coffeehouse and the mind-blowing, psychedelic Cosmic Cavern, designed by pop artist Kenny Scharf (floor-to-ceiling fake fur, Lava lamps, Internet terminals, black-light paintings and a fountain). The 1996 police raid dealt a blow to Tunnel's spirit (not to mention its trendy cachet) from which the club hasn't fully recovered. The place looks shabby these days; the main dance floor isn't very conducive to disco epiphanies, and the crowd is mostly quite mainstream. It's such an incredible space that it deserves at least one visit. Head for one of the many smaller rooms, which feature more interesting music, decor and people. Vanity 28 E 23rd St between Madison Ave and Park Ave South (212-254-6117) Subway: N, R, 6 to 23rd St. Vanity isn't much to look at, and the name is pretty tired, but as one of Manhattan's fairly few smallish dance clubs it fills a definite need. It actually has a pretty nice little dance floor and sound system, too. The most popular nights are Tuesdays, when Super Funk attracts a fun music-industry crowd (it's a good bet that you'll rub elbows at the bar with the likes of Todd Terry or Masters at Work) despite the name, you'll mostly hear deep but pumping house spun by guest DJs ranging from local up-and-comers to internationally known names like Benji Candelario. Friday night, the also-misnamed GBH (which stands for Great British House) features mostly American vocal house, spun by DJs who work at King Street and Northcott, two top New York labels (DJ Disciple is a monthly guest, and folks like Roger Sanchez spin on occasion, too). Saturday, Sticky's program of electronica draws the sort of indie/alternative/student-oriented crowd that listens to the Chemical Brothers, DJ Icey, Fatboy Slim and the like. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||