New York on Tap 2008
Archive · modern edition Every bar New York on Tap knew, as it stood around 2008, with a 2026 check on each one. This page in the 2008 edition

No photo of this bar survives from the 2008 site.

The Whiskey (W Hotel)

1567 Broadway · at 47th St.
Midtown West, Manhattan

In 2026

Closed; now Dos Caminos Times Square

Checked October 18, 2026.

Show on the map Directions See the 2008 page

Overview

Depending on which definition of cool you subscribe too, the Whiskey either approaches the pinacle or falls far short. The design team was top notch - everything shimmers or shines or glows. The crowd looks great. The dress code is strictly enforced. Hair wax is mandatory for men, women must either support their bosoms in a water bra or wear no bra at all. However, the fault line appears when you realize that the bar and its patrons are all trying very, very hard. And isn't that by definition the antithesis of cool?

History

Oil under the floor, stars at the bar

You walked into the Whiskey over an underlit panel of acrylic floor tiles filled with oil1. The bar began as the Gerber Group's first venue, at the Paramount Hotel, and in 2001 New York magazine reported that Rande Gerber would close it there and move it to the new W New York - Times Square2, 3.

The reinvented Whiskey opened in the W's basement at the start of 2002, with a screening room that seated 60 in front of a 19-foot high-definition screen1. Time Out promised no underground-club crowd, but a star-studded party seven days a week4. We said everything shimmered or shone or glowed, and that the whole place was trying very, very hard, which is by definition the antithesis of cool.

In 2014 the plan was to cut the hotel's restaurant in half so Dos Caminos could open, with its dining room replacing the Whiskey5. Time Out now lists the Whiskey as closed, and Dos Caminos Times Square is at 1567 Broadway4, 6.

Sources

  1. bizbash.com
  2. en.wikipedia.org
  3. bizbash.com
  4. timeout.com
  5. travelupdate.com
  6. doscaminos.com

Researched October 2026.

What's nearby