New Lounge Hopes To Unseat Farmstands As Top Union Square Attraction

Union Square used to be a nexus of bleeding edge nightlife. 33 Union Sq. West housed the second incarnation of Andy Warhol's Factory. His favorite LSD-saturated haunt, Max's Kansas City, was a few blocks north. And the late Palladium (now an NYU dorm, natch) was a stone's throw away on 14th St. Now, a team of nightlife vets hopes to revive the magic with the Union Square Lounge.

Promoter Michael Gogel (formerly of Lotus) is committed to bringing back the sort of eclectic, democratic crowd- club kids, hipsters, artists, models, socialites- that defined the New York party scene in its bygone heyday. Discerning but 'tude-free doormen (we'll see how that pans out) will guard the 16th Street entrance (the Lounge is located beneath The Coffee Shop). There will be French people! Gogel, a frog himself, has recruited Gloomy Palmz from French art collective Le Sexie to spin for what he hopes will be a "young Parisian crowd."

So grab a pack of Galoises, slap on a beret and vive la resistance to Union Square being a nightlife dead zone.