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In the News: Basement Nightclub Opening at the Beekman Hotel
••• In news that is sure to cause concern among folks living on the east side of City Hall Park, the long-rumored nightclub in the basement of the Beekman hotel is coming to fruition—with nightlife impresario Serge Becker, best known for the Box, at the helm. From the Wall Street Journal: “Dubbed the Alley Cat Amateur Theatre, the 2,500-square-foot space is scheduled to open early April. […] For the Alley Cat, Mr. Becker gave the space a cellar-like feel, in keeping with its underground location, and added touches both upscale and industrial. Exposed mechanical elements and brickwork are key examples of the latter. ‘The concept is we’re in the basement, so let’s not try to hide it,’ said Mr. Becker. He added that he doesn’t consider the Alley Cat a ‘club’ in the strictest sense and that he is aiming for something more low-key. The venue’s name refers to the hotel’s location, an area once filled with theaters. Mr. Becker plans to play into that history and feature live music some nights with a grown-up vibe. He cited the Café Carlyle, a legendary New York cabaret venue, as ‘a kind of loose inspiration.’ As for food, Mr. Colicchio is offering a Japanese-inspired menu modeled on the pub-style izakaya concept.” (Weirdly, the article’s only two outside quotes are from the publisher of Bar Business Magazine and “Phil Knott, a nightlife expert and general manager of Tivoli Village, a shopping and dining complex in Las Vegas.”)
••• If only we had Phil Knott’s thoughts on “the 5,000-square-foot third-floor ‘club'” at the Moxy, the Marriott hotel opening at 26 Ann: “a ‘play space’ that will morph from the ‘ultimate co-working environment’ by day into a ‘neighborhood-friendly, all-inclusive club’ by night.” It’s been a long time since my clubbing days, but exclusivity always seemed like a huge part of the draw. “Nighttime eating and drinking options will be supervised by a leading Manhattan food-and-beverage operator. There will also be a basketball court and vintage video games. Neighbors will be lured to the scene by a ‘Times Square–quality’ LED wall in the ground-floor lobby.” Above right: a rendering. —New York Post
••• More on the Moxy from Eater: “Though the food and beverage operator has not been announced, the Times Square Moxy is managed by Tao Group, so that could be the case here, too.”
••• “New York City-based stylist Lorraine Massey is on a mission to encourage women to embrace their natural hair color, one silver strand at a time. Ditching the dye and going gray—at any age—is the subject of her new book with Michele Bender called Silver Hair Handbook. She’s also the author of Curly Girl: The Handbook.” And “she’s working on opening her new salon, Spiral, in Tribeca.” Other reports have it named “Spiral (x, y).” No word on where it’ll be, and she didn’t respond on Twitter.—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
••• A Broadsheet article about the imminent closing of Amada and the less-imminent closing of North End Grill comes to an unappetizing conclusion: “What does seem clear is that many Downtown food buyers have been hoping for years to be offered more local choices that combined high quality with moderate prices. This desire has found expression both in a hankering for more supermarkets, such as Trader Joe’s […] and for family-friendly dining options found more typically in the suburbs, such as Boston Market and Panera Bread.” Also: Danny Meyer is not a chef.
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I welcome the club at the Beekman and I would say so even if i lived right across the street. :-) It’s in the basement. Its not large. Neighbors won’t hear it. This is where a club should be. I look forward to it.
The question isn’t noise from the establishment—it’s noise from patrons entering, exiting, waiting in line to get in, and so on.
It’s a hotel. People come in and out and there is already a big bar with two restaurants at the base. This small addition, won’t make much of a difference. I welcome it to the neighborhood.
People clubbing late at night are a much different animal than people having dinner. You may end up being right, but it might be prudent to not decide in advance how it’s going to turn out.
And we shall see. The Beekman has been a good neighbor and should be given the benefit of the doubt. I will say in advance to people that don’t know me, that I am an eternal optimist and always give people the benefit of the doubt…….until they give me good reason not to. :-)
Agree. Any grown up leaving in the area is definately not welcoming a club.
Very different beast than a restaurant.
Anyone that knows me knows I’m a realist and this doesn’t sound good.
Moxie sounds terrible. and more retail,space to sit empty.
The growth is too fast and low class.
Fast food restaurants galore and now throw cheap hotels into the mix.
I want my old FIDI back.
The Broadsheet should give up its restaurant reviews. North End Grill sought to be a “designation” restaurant? Is that like “destination” restaurant? Amada, featuring Spanish food, had competition from Mexican restaurants? (Is that because, even though the food is entirely different, the chefs speak Spanish?) And BPC residents are “hankering” for more boring chain restaurants like Boston Market and Panera that are found in the suburbs? Maybe those unnamed hankerers should hanker for a home near a strip mall in suburbia.
Perhaps the author’s romance with boring eateries obscured some key points about Amada and NEG — namely, that Amada’s chef was in legal hot water for unpaid bills, and North End Grill was seriously mismanaged for a long period, resulting in a scandalous report in Eater that damaged the restaurant’s reputation and, potentially, that of its landlord, Goldman Sachs.
Those issues don’t seem to fit the Broadsheet’s continuing narrative that BPC shouldn’t get so darn uppity. See what happens when you try!
I agree with Luis. Let’s get some of the party back into Manhattan! If the patrons become a problem I’m sure the neighborhood will deal with it. Let’s dance!
:-)