Battle Of The Old-Guard Nightlife Authority: Michael Musto Vs. Steve Lewis
Riffing off Michael Musto's "10 Best NYC Clubs of All Time" in The Village Voice, Steve Lewis in his "Good Night Mr. Lewis" BlackBook column comes up with his own historic list (as well as a current one). How do they match up?
Musto, an authority on night life in the city, goes bold and lays out his picks for best of the NYC nightlife spots in history:
[Photo via "Clothes Make the Writer"]
Michael Musto's Picks:
- Studio 54
- Mudd Club
- Area
- Danceteria
- Jackie 60
- Happy Valley
- CBGB
- The Roxy
- The Palladium
- Limelight
Lewis, an expert in his own right, quibbles a bit with Musto's selection, questioning Happy Valley in particular:
[Photo via GofG]
"He is as right as anybody, as each of us has our own perspective. The list doesn't go back to joints pre-Michael's viewpoint, like El Morocco or The Cotton Club, and it discounts anything recent with the exception of Happy Valley, which maybe had a moment 5 years ago. My list is pretty close. I would swap out Happy Valley (which was mostly awful), CBGB, and The Roxy in favor The World, Max's Kansas City, and Paradise Garage."
As for today's hot list, Lewis looked at the lounges and bars in Manhattan he'd send his friends to on a given nigh and comes up with:
- Provocateur
- Kenmare
- Boom Boom Room
- Avenue
- 10Ak
- Pacha
- Darby
- Lavo
- St. Jerome
- Webster Hall
Obviously, any list of this sort--one that tries to cull from a wide bounty of nightlife hot spots and allocate them into limited slots--will inspire deep ire in certain die-hards and haters. It's a futile endeavor to try to create the definitive list.
We'd offer up Jane Ballroom, Don Hill's and Le Bain to the list above, as well as our high hopes for yet-to-be-opened Le Baron.
Lewis and Musto have interesting perspectives given the longevity of their time dissecting this city's nightlife, but to use them as a barometer (as Lewis, to his credit, admits) for the end-all-be-all of today's go-to place may be an ill-advised approach. Any arguments for or against? Let's hear it in the comments section....
Vassili Verrecchia Shows Off His Favorite Things In His Paris Home
While his brother, Timothee, runs the NYC office, Vassili takes on the Paris-based side of things. To gain some insight to what inspires such a creative and entrepreneurial spirit, we asked Vass to show off some of his favorite worldly and sentimental possessions in his Paris home. See where Vass's travels have taken him...
about 3 hours ago
about 5 hours ago
about 13 hours ago
02:56:54 PM May 21, 2012
02:35:16 PM May 21, 2012
11:01:39 AM May 18, 2012
09:45:07 AM May 18, 2012
January 25, 2011
6:41am
rhere are on Mr lewis list a lot of places that he has had been on payroll, St Jerome? Oh, i forgot the tireless work of mr lewis to appear "COOL"
doresearch
January 25, 2011
4:45pm
This is a SAD SAD SAD list! This def shows that NY Nightlife really sucks. As all of these places really sucks -- NO VIBE!! Steve Lewis is tired and he knows it and its time to call it quit cause that list really sucks! None of the spot on Steve's list would match up to Michael's list -- NONE!
beatdown
January 25, 2011
5:23pm
Musto's list deserves some tweaking. Unless you are/were a drag queen or fan thereof, I would subtract Jackie 60 and Happy Valley. I would also eliminate CBGB which became irrelevant sometime around 1984 and was not really a "club". I would definitely add Xenon for the 70s club kids and would add The Ritz and Max's as well. Regarding the current list...........sadly, they all suck. Bottle service killed NYC nightlife. The only current venue worth hitting up is the Jane, however the place lacks a proper dance floor and the crowd seems like it's all NYU kids.