Vudu Lounge

Vudu Lounge was a dance club on First Avenue between 77th and 78th Streets, where Time Out told you to brave the thumping salsa, merengue and reggae in exchange for free Caribbean and American food^{1, 2}. We sent you for the hip-hop and Latin nights, and the Hypnotiq.

Its neighbors were less taken with it: residents and local elected officials said the velvet-rope club brought late-night noise and rowdy behavior to quiet blocks³. In June 2011 Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Micah Kellner wrote to the State Liquor Authority claiming it was ruining the quality of life of the neighborhood³. In 2011 the NYPD also shut it down over complaints from Community Board 8 and legal problems, but it reopened, fully licensed, a few weeks later³.

In January 2012 Vudu Lounge surrendered its liquor license amid pending disciplinary charges, including selling alcohol to minors, and the 19th Precinct said it was closing for good^{2, 3}.

Carmel Partners bought the property for $73.5 million in early 2022, and by March 2023 demolition was complete^{4, 5}. In its place rises a 404-foot tower of 206 condominiums over 7,120 square feet of ground-floor retail⁴.