pachamama

Got 5 nights there - working for 2 of them but not sure what to do for the rest of my time. Not sure if my imagination is running away with me but I really wanted to try and find a NY hang which was a little bit eccentric, had loads of character and was not a tourist trap. I'm not looking for a gay bar or straight bar, just something a little left of centre where all my like-minded freaks from over the pond come out at night. Any suggestions?

vincom

Have you tried searching this forum?


-Vincent

pachamama

Yes.............. and thank you for being so detailed in your response.

KenCT

Don't be too hard on vincom. The subject of where to go, what to do in Manhattan has just been done into the ground. My advice: Go into any gay bar. Pick up a copy of HX look it over. Ask a cute guy any question you might have. New York is just one giant small town, and New Yorkers know everything about everything.

pachamama

Sorry, I was just retorting to what I thought was a fairly flip remark and pretty unhelpful. Bit like saying, "there's no hot water coming outta the tap", to which I may hear in my plea for help "well did you turn the tap on?" . We've all been, seen and posted threads which may have been covered before but my question was quite specific. It's not a gay bar I am looking to hang in, I just wanted to know where the weird and wonderful hideaways may be regardless of gay or straight, that didn't pump out techno, house, liza manelli... isn't another minimal den that doesn't require a D&B white T or a pair of Alain Mikli frames to gain entry to the venue. I was thinking more something a little more left-field and interesting. Maybe post-punk, warholesque if that makes sense.

Do they exist still? Like in the 'happenings' period.

vincom

dup...

vincom

I'll ad some advice - pick up a copy of Next also... should be easily found walking around anywhere in chelsea....

INFACT some super advice - stop by the Big Cup coffee place, they will have lots of gay rags...

-Vincent

FlyBalletGuy

What neighborhood will you be staying in? My guess is what you're looking for is either in the East Village or the Lower East Side. I haven't been in a little bit, but you might like something like the Slipper Room (it's where a lot of the Burlesque Revival stuff is happening)

pachamama

Many thanks, yeah that's the sort of lines/leftness I am thinking. I'm not looking for gay only haunt. Just a 'people' haunt for the like-minded, if it happens to be a gay venue then great but it's more the mindset.

What I really wanted to do rather than pick a paper up and read through while I'm there (I won't have time as I will be working and running around meeting people) was to get some suggestions beforehand. This is somewhat work related, I need to entertain a few left-of-centre folk who are flying in from various countries - we will be recording in the day but then out an about every night but we don't want hardcore 94 raves, Just less homogonised places. Any places like a gypsy tea party with a dodgy guitar player whose been there 30 years singing Peruvian hits while they serve goulash. Or a Bar with great cocktails but a grumpy 80 year old woman making them. Sorry - I know this sounds a little stupid but I hope this gives you an idea.

We will be around the Gramercy area - but to be honest all over - we'll be catching taxis everywhere.

anonplz

Big Cup's been closed for several months now.

Ahem.

SF_trotter

The Big Cup is no more. Methinks this is the beginning of the end of gay Chelsea.

Anyway, pachamama, you might get more specific recommendations if you give a little more more description of what you're looking for (day of week, early/late, ...). But frankly, I don't know if flyertalk is where you'll find many post-punk, Warholesque kindred souls.

vincom

HA HA HA

DAMN! Show you how much I follow NYC gay scene. The next best place I can think of to get BOTH Next and HX would be at XL Lounge, they always have both. Now I know XL Lounge is still there, I was drinking last week there and the bartend upstairs would just NOT shut up.

For the record I do recommend going to XL Lounge www.jblair.com , Splash Bar www.splashbar.com , Roxy Saturday www.jblair.com, 1984 www.spincyclenyc.com, Club Shelter Saturday www.clubshelter.com

Splash Bar is a NYC classic you must go, Roxy is good old fashion mega clubbing (whats left of it), and the Club Shelter space is just AWESOME, I tried throwing a party there back in 2003, man I wish I could have made it work, the space was just awesome...

This is the end and change of an era in gay life in NYC I think too, but thats a short novel to post... \

-Vincent

HardlyW8

Post-punk/warhol-esque = Fluid on Wednesdays, Duvet on Thursdays, Opaline/Area 10018 on Fridays, or basically anything you see that says Amanda Lapore will be there (since she tends to include an entourage of hangers on that fit what it sounds like you are looking for)

JS

My recommendation is to go to another city if at all possible. Otherwise the TV might not be so bad.

The rude replies you got in this thread are indicative of the type of people who live there -- snotty, rude, pretentious jerks. That plus the filthy streets, prices double what is normal, high taxes and over-regulation makes NYC the last place I would recommend for anyone to visit, whether gay or straight.

izzik

Don't be bitter.