Gaslight

The Yankees celebrated their World Series victories at the Gaslight three years in a row, and once lined up there to meet Britney Spears¹. James Gandolfini, Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke were friends and regulars, and Stella McCartney threw private parties there¹. Our old review just called it an oddly comfortable faux-Victorian DJ bar, a hopping-off point for the clubs nearby.

In the 1970s the Kelly Building, at 400 West 14th Street and Ninth Avenue, was home to The Toilet². Matt DeMatt, once a doorman at Studio 54, brought his experiences there and at Limelight and Le Bar Bat to the Gaslight, which he created in the building with Davey Curran, Peter Collins and Billy Reddy^{1, 2, 3}. By his reckoning it was the first bar and restaurant in the Meatpacking District, and it was three years before the partners made any money¹. They went on to add a second club, G2, a pizzeria and an outdoor cafe¹.

In April 2017 amNY reported that the legendary bar and lounge had closed, its space stripped of everything but the bar and all lit up³. DeMatt confirmed by text message that the Gaslight was "fini"³. amNY heard that the long leases on that block of Ninth Avenue, 15 or 20 years apiece, had all expired at roughly the same time³.

In 2022 Gucci leased the bottom two floors of the five-story building, and its store opened on the corner in March 2023^{4, 5}.