Nightclubbing

East Village People: Blacks, Bohos, and Frat Boys Need Not Apply?

Photo: Shanna Ravindra

Two Post articles ponder the gentrification of the city’s nightlife today. First, Lush Life author Richard Price considers the closing of Max Fish, the Pink Pony, and Mars Bar and tells the Post, “There are no neighborhoods in Manhattan anymore. South of Harlem, it feels like a bunch of districts where rich people can crash.” But in an op-ed piece, Kyle Smith reacts to a Capital New York feature about Superdive’s closing and says it’s precisely those rich people the East Village is united against. He says Community Board 3 unfairly frowns on bars that bring “frat boys. Solid men in Big Ten regalia. Business types who spent their college years learning about balance sheets instead of transgressive modes of self-actualization.” Meanwhile, the owner of the Continental, Trigger Smith, freely admits to the Local East Village that he doesn’t want frat boys in his bar (or Jersey Shore kids, either!), but that’s not what has him in trouble.

The blog reports that the bar is being protested after a black woman was denied entry by a bouncer (also African-American) who told her, “Your kind don’t know how to act.” Smith denies it happened, though he admits he’s selective: “I’m not going to be politically correct and just let anybody in. I look at things in the long run — my bar’s been here nineteen years — and I’ll turn away people if they don’t meet my dress code.” Fair enough — but maybe post a helpful sign like this one?

East Village bohemian snobs drive out the frat boys [NYP]
Lower East Side is losing it [NYP]
Bias Alleged At East Village Bar [Local East Village/NYT]

East Village People: Blacks, Bohos, and Frat Boys Need Not Apply?