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Mekka to Replace Pacha NYC?
Pacha NYC may soon be reborn in the form of a spanking new 36,000 square foot club Mekka! Well, maybe.
Club Mekka is the second proposed club as of this year planned to take over the legendary Hell’s Kitchen space where for 10 strong years Pacha NYC stood. In January 2016, after a decade of lineups that regularly sported some of the largest names in the world of dance music, Pacha NYC called it a day and closed it’s doors.
Earlier this year, the building that once housed one of New York’s most happening and most buzzing clubs at 618 W 46th, was proposed to be taken over by Club FREQ, a nightclub proposed by Space Ibiza’s co-owner Antonio Piacquadio. When this proposal fell through, another not so appealing one popped up about turning the space into an art gallery that hosted occasional acoustic events.
Let’s fast forward to as of a week ago, after all the plans for the space that fell through earlier in the year, nightlife entrepreneur Glenn Raymond has now proposed a 36,000 sq ft dance music ‘mecca’, in the form of club Mekka that combines plans from both failed proposals!
Speaking about the project, Raymond said: “My experience is as a fan of the music first and foremost… I have DJ’d and thrown parties… I guess you can say Mekka is owned by a fan who wants the fans to have fun.”
On Saturday nights the space would serve as a nightclub, but on other days it would serve as an art gallery and venue for acoustic performances and also play home to a ‘museum of nightlife’ and ‘dance music hall of fame.’
While they are proposing for the space to open in 2018, it is worth noting that at this point, still no permit has been issued and nor have any floor plans been submitted, but that said, the goal is for the club to open in 2018 with bookings geared being towards underground music.
Will Club Mekka, the five story club, geared towards sounds of the underground actually be a reality for New Yorkers in the coming year? Well, we will just have to wait and see how this plan pans out!
Cielo Nightclub to Close After 15 Year Run
NYC‘s historic nightlife scene may be hardly recognizable in a matter of years. Following a long list of closures of New York nightclubs, including Pacha NYC and Webster Hall, historic nightclub Cielo is reportedly shutting its doors at the end of the year.
In a post to his Facebook page, DJ Dove A.K.A. Capote Barbarito alleged that the club will permanently close its doors at the end of December to make way for real estate developments. “Great memories there whether it was hanging out dancing or playing some of my best sets DJing,” he wrote. “Cielo you’ll always have a special place in my heart thank you [sic].”
Cielo opened its doors to the public in 2003. The concept for the nightclub was hatched by Nicolas Matar, a DJ who got the idea for the club from playing Pacha Ibiza’s El Cielo, also called The Funky Room. Over the past 15 years his iconic club billed a talent pool diverse enough to include David Guetta, Luciano and Sven Väth.
Thanks for the memories.
Red Rabbit NYC is Meatpacking’s Latest Hot Spot
Amidst a busy schedule, within a frenetic workday, under the blinking eyes of a sleepless city, the elite, the few, like Alice, whose curiosity for adventure leads them down the rabbit hole, will venture to New York City’s Meatpacking District on October 6, 2018 for the opening of the exclusive Red Rabbit Club.
The 4500 square foot luxury NY nightlife venue will, ironically, fill the space once reserved for the Gilded Lily. But Red Rabbit Club will have no need to adorn itself unnecessarily. Hampton’s entrepreneur, Richie Hosein is launching the club that he hopes will, according to him, “elevate the standards for excellence for nightlife and create exceptional experiences for [its] guests.”
What makes the Red Rabbit Club unique is its exclusivity. Red Rabbit Club will offer just 17 tables, so intimacy is inherent in this subterranean and surreal venue. While other clubs focus on numbers, Red Rabbit is all about experience. The renovation plans intend to immerse the clientele in a multi-sensate experience through progressive technology and extravagant design elements.
Red Rabbit (not to be mistaken for Dead Rabbit, an Irish bar/restaurant in lower Manhattan) is only the latest in a series of successful projects for Hosein. In the summer of 2016, he launched AM Southampton, billed as Southampton’s #1 night life experience. Among the talent it attracted was Rap singer 50 Cent, who Hosein snagged again to host the opening of Red Rabbit.
Located at 408 15th Street, New York, NY, Red Rabbit is a short hop to Chelsea Market and a skip and a jump from The Tippler, another underground bar. These, and other, new, subterranean lounges are the answers to the lofty insurgence of rooftop bars doting the city grid. With its “rabbit hole” staircase, sunken dance floor enveloped by red plush, velvet couches and booths, surround sound, smart lighting and LED screens on the walls and ceilings, Red Rabbit portrays the motif of mystery, clandestine meetings, and the joys of becoming enraptured in the realm of fantasy.
Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, wrote, “But I don’t want to go among mad people,” said Alice. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the cat. “We’re all mad here.” Perhaps the select few patrons of Red Rabbit will feel, just for a moment, as the traffic rumbles above their heads, and the lights and sounds of the happy madness envelops them, that this is an escape, a well-deserved and much needed hiatus from the norm.