Velvet Rope
78 bars that New York on Tap listed under “Velvet Rope” around 2008, with what's licensed at each address in 2026.
Manhattan
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453 W. 17th St. · Chelsea
Closed
Every new club makes a claim to the crown - the most lavish, most exclusive, celeb heavy scene in NYC. Investors need to believe it. Promoters need to sell it. And the punters need to feel they got their bottle money's worth. The thing with 1 Oak is it might just have the chops to make the hype a reality.
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105 Rivington · Lower East Side
Closed; now Tigre
Jet black leather couches, lava red carpets, an illuminated bar, and a stripper pole set the vibe at this ultra-trendy DJ lounge in the Hotel Rivington. Head to the right from the lobby or failing that the steel grey doors outside.
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230 FifthPick
230 5th Ave. · Rose Hill
Still pouring
With a view like this you can forgive all of this roof deck bars flaws.
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310 Spring St. · SoHo/Little Italy
Closed; now Lazy Point
When a publicist opens a bar you can expect a bit of hype. They've dingied up the entrance of the old Sly to give it a speakeasy feel and set the word out that celebrities frequent the place and yet there's no doorman. The result is expected, people packed in like sardines each wondering why they're here.
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9 Doyer St. · Chinatown
Still pouring
A sleepy Chinatown alley far from the beaten nightlife trail is home to this dimly lit and richly appointed bar as apothecary.
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419 W. 13th St. · MeatPacking District
Closed; now Petrossian Caviar NYC
Behind the unmarked apartment building doors lies a club conceived a as town house.
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B BarPick
40 E. 4th St. · NoHo
Closed
Although its moment in the sun has past, the B Bar and Grill remains an E. Village fixture thanks to an outstanding outdoor space and clean and classic décor.
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55 Gansevoort St. · MeatPacking District
A different business is licensed at this address: Rh
Behind a smoked glass door just past Merkato 55 (you'll spot it by the bouncer standing outside). Head down the stairs, through the kitchen, and into into the door marked private. If all that makes you feel important than you're not alone. Take a look around. Pretense is the name of the game here.
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189 Chrystie St. · Lower East Side
Still pouring
There is no door more exclusive and no shows more outrageous than the ones at this intimate vintage theatre.
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515 W. 27th St. · Chelsea
Closed
This tiny lounge dressed up to the nines in South Beach chic achieves a dizzying nose to the sky level of pretension. It's almost worth the door hassle and a $16 cocktail for a zebra print seat to snear at it all from.
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46 Ave. B · East Village
Closed
There's plenty of flesh on display at this Brazilian churrascaria from the owner's of Le Souk. A $35 prix fixe gets you all the meat you can eat. And a few pitchers of sangria and a bit of dancing just might get you a hottie from the table nearby.
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4 W. 22nd St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
Closed; now Sagaponack
If Milo Minderbinder owned a bar this would be it. The theme is loosely WWII, but the after-work crush of mid-level managers and marketing interns, is best enjoyed by those who can easily set their better human instincts aside and just go for it.
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Cellar Bar (Bryant Park Hotel)
40 W. 40th St. · Chelsea
Same bar, now Célon Bar & Lounge
An absurdly expensive, uneven, imitation wine cellar replete with vaulted ceilings and wrought iron chandeliers. To get there head toward the front desk, turn left, and then look for the clipboard wielding doorman.
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Club MidwayPick
25 Ave. B · East Village
A different business is licensed at this address: Eastpoint
Developed instanta scene after taking over Rated X Panty Party from the now defunct Opaline, and launching exclusive guest DJ nights - like the 2nd Monday of every month when Georgia and Ira from Yo La Tengo wreck the place.
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248 W. 14th St · West Village
Closed; now Beatbox
If you loved waiting in line to be crammed into a space too small to dance at Dirty Disco, you'll love it's latest incarnation which has all that and a South Hamptons aesthetic.
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Death & CoPick
433 E 6th St · East Village
Still pouring
Anyone with a love for classic mixology will find themselves moved by the spirits in this tomb-like temple to tippling.
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116 10th Ave. · Chelsea
No license found in 2026
Bombay themed club/lounge offers generic beats, bottle service and little else to a demographic of mostly Indian corporatophiles.
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3534 Broadway · Hamilton Heights
A different business is licensed at this address
For 30 years (1931-1961) El Morocco was a fixture of NYC nightlife. The club didn't just have a velvet rope they literally invented the velvet rope. And although the new ElMo shares lineage in name only and may not burn as bright, to say it's wasn't hot would be an errore. On Saturday nights ElMo is The Latin Party in the city. And there few places hotter outside of Casablanca.
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247 Eldridge St. · Lower East Side
Closed; now San Antonios
A shoebox sized douchebag sink carefully designed to absorb the star-fuckers, B-listers, and iBankers from the good bars in the neighborhood and relieve them of their money and dignity. Find the only book store with a bouncer and you're there.
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28 W. 20th St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
No license found in 2026
A totally new and never before seen in New York club concept. Pair a top 40s set list with an unremarkable décor, set up a velvet rope and create an artificial line when the club is empty, then charge a $20 cover.
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162 Bleecker St. · Greenwich Village
Closed
This clubbish Middle Eastern themed lounge makes the most of its railroad digs creating an atmosphere at times almost rivaling Le Souk's. Expect steep drink prices, a cover on weekends, and the usual velvet rope antics.
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18 9th Ave. · MeatPacking District
A different business is licensed at this address
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389 Broome St. · Chinatown
Closed; now Broome St. Project
GoldBar does oppulence rather well. Gold ceilings, gold chandeliers, gold tables, gold curtains, gold walls covered in tiny gold skulls all add up to a significant wow factor. Unfortunatly they also add up to an environment about as comfortable and welcoming as a bank vault. A standard cocktail will run $14, and the door policy can be brutal.
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302 Broome St. · Chinatown
Closed
The palpable sexuality of this spot, may make you wonder if the environs have somehow been imbued with the spiritual essense of the thousands of orgasms experienced in this former Chinatown massage parlor.
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409 W. 13th St. · MeatPacking District
Closed
Boasts the first smoking section since 2001, a private elevator VIP lounge, and DJs who love pop.
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88 9th Ave. · Chelsea
Closed; now Tao Downtown
An indoor / outdoor trattoria that turns into a velvet rope scene to be seen on summer weekends. On other occassions it's a perfectly relaxed albeit somewhat pricey spot to enjoy some goat cheese pizza with the smoking hot European tourists staying at the hotel.
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La MarinaPick
348 Dyckman St. · Central Harlem
A different business is licensed at this address: Hudson Crab & Cue
Dancing, live latin music, tiki huts, and a jaw dropping sunset over the hudson. Hard to argue with really.
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21 7th Ave S. · West Village
No license found in 2026
Looking to take over legacy of Luke & Leroy, the infamous former home of Misshapes and the Rated X Panty Party. The new renovation is more oppulent, the sound system is vastly improved, and there's now a VIP room. The question remains though: Will it have a soul?
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675 Hudson St. · MeatPacking District
A different business is licensed at this address: Bento On Hudson
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335 Bowery · East Village
Still pouring
Carved wood panels, persian rugs, candelabras and a sandstone fireplace all collaborate to create a regal Victorian atmosphere. Too bad this bar's technically for hotel guests only.
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27 W. 24th St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
Closed
The nightclub Eugene has been rechristened The Madison (bar area) and Gypsy Tea (club area). The club is heavily promoted, and as a result the crowd can range from B to D list depending on the night. Cover is $20-$30. And there's the usual velvet rope "Who do you know?" nonsense.
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73 8th Ave. · West Village
Closed; now Think Coffee
This mega-oppulent bi-level lounge in the former Pink Elephant space features a 24kt gold plated DJ booth, fur banquettes, and walnut and leather paneling.
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289 10th Ave. · Chelsea
Still pouring
The most severe door in the city doesn't waste time trying to sum up your cool factor with a moments glance. Instead they require only that women be very young and very thin, and that men have exceptionally nice shoes, haircuts and cuff links. There are few venues short of a brothel where the exchange of wealth for youth feels more contrived.
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MehanataPick
113 Ludlow St. · Lower East Side
Still pouring
The legendary Bulgarian bar with dancing has reopened on Ludlow street. There's nowhere else quite like it.
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17 Thompson St. · SoHo/Little Italy
Closed; now Soho Finest Market
Meat market doesn't quite do this place justice, perhaps meat emporium.
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· SoHo/Little Italy
Closed
To keep Culture club fresh they added this new 90s themed area upstairs. You can reserve a white Ford Bronco VIP room. Sweet.
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PDTPick
113 St. Marks Pl · East Village
Still pouring
Short for Please Don't Tell, the bar is accessed by heading down the stairs into Crif Dogs then into a phone booth. Press the intercom button and cross your fingers that they let you in because for all the nonsense it's actually a pretty decent bar.
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527 W. 27th St. · Chelsea
No license found in 2026
This disco balled bedecked trading floor serves as prime broker for the exchange of hard cash for exclusivity and exclusivity for the time and attention of beautiful, young, skinny, white girls. If you have either currency in excess this is the place to make a deal.
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246 W. 14th St. · Chelsea
Closed; now Stash
Formerly the popular hip-hop and jazz club Nell's, then the flash in the pan club NA, and now Plumm a members, reservations VIP Plumm colored club backed by such NYC nighlife luminaries as old kid on the block Joey McIntyre.
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349 Broome St. · NoLita
Closed; now The Garret Nolita
A marketing blitz has brought out the weekend hordes to this former M bar space. Velvet ropes, lists at the door, and hundreds of people with nothing in common except for the fact they like going to newly opened bars.
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200 Ave. A · East Village
No license found in 2026
A café, bookstore, gallery space, and full bar make for a lively and sorely needed day time gay hangout in the East Village. At night there's a busy schedule of readings, film screenings, and dance performances.
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37 W. 17th St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
A different business is licensed at this address: Yakiniku Futago NY
The log cabin gone 80's glam décor works surprisingly well is still struggling to find its crowd which can vary wildly from night to night.
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37 W. 17th St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
A different business is licensed at this address: Yakiniku Futago NY
The log cabin gone 80's glam décor works surprisingly well is still struggling to find its crowd which can vary wildly from night to night.
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210 W. 55th St. · Midtown West
A different business is licensed at this address
Ultra hip (for the moment) lobby lounge of the Dream Hotel is just to the east of the reception desk and just south of overwrought.
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The Rose Bar (Grammercy Park Hotel)
2 Lexington Ave · Grammercy
Closed
From celebrity rolodex, to Page Six, to Citysearch's 10 best list, to the gutter. With a roaring fireplace and vaulted ceilings the Rose Bar feels chic and sophisticatated, unfortunately its overblown publicity has ensured very few of its patrons are.
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4 E. 28th St. · Rose Hill
No license found in 2026
After an hour in line, bribing the bouncer, dropping $350 on a bottle, and then sitting in a cramped space watching girls teeter on high heels on the famed "runway" you can either tell your friends that your night out in NYC was a complete disaster or tell them "That shit was off the hook dude!" This club is almost entirely populated by the friends of people who chose the later.
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50 W. 17th St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
Closed; now 50 West 17th Street offices
This ten thousand square foot dance club is on the must see list of every gay tourist in the city and with good reason. Fifteen years since its inception Splash is still the gay nightclub in Chelsea. Nowhere else can really compete with the the sound, the sights, and the spectacle.
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333 E. 60th St. · Upper East Side
Closed; now Sapphire 60
Famed topless bar where you pay through the nose, but the women are immaculate in a carefully manicured, silicone, collagen sort of way. If that's your thing there's nowhere better.
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536 W. 28th St. · Chelsea
No license found in 2026
Famed topless bar where you pay through the nose, but the women are immaculate in a carefully manicured, silicone, collagen sort of way. If that's your thing there's nowhere better.
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174 Orchard St. · Lower East Side
Still pouring
This long thin dimly lit bar draws neighborhood regulars with cheap drinks and a relaxed vibe.
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183 W. 10th St. · West Village
Still pouring
This small, dark, but no longer smokey jazz joint books some truly incredible up and coming talent. Best yet the reasonable cover charges buys your first two drinks.
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SocialistaPick
505 W. St. · West Village
No license found in 2026
It's hard not to fall in love with the ironic perfection of Socialista. Celebrity investors spent 2 million green backs trying to capture the dillapidated glamour and sensuality of a Havana club in Fidel's Cuba. While the most accomplished doormen in the city attempt to evaluate someone's intrinsic human capital and worthiness for entry with a five second glance.
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222 W. 23rd St. · Chelsea
Closed; now Teruko
Small, dark lounge under the Chelsea Hotel with an often celebrity populated VIP room.
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10 Columbus Circle · Hells Kitchen
A different business is licensed at this address
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SutraPick
16 1st Ave. · East Village
Closed; now Lydia's
Sexy candle lit lounge with a bar area upstairs and DJ space below. On weekends it can get so crowded you'll want to step outside for air.
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547 W. 27th St. · Chelsea
No license found in 2026
Sake bottle service and Chinese kitsch in club land. The aim is 1940's Hong Kong den of iniquity…
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48 W. 21st St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
A different business is licensed at this address: Out of the Ordinary
Supper club turns late night dance party.
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240 W. 52nd St. · Midtown West
A different business is licensed at this address: Haswell Green
Opened in 2004 in the space formerly occupied by Float this club draws a diverse and suprisingly unpretentious crowd to its swank environs.
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240 W. 52nd St · Midtown West
Closed; now Haswell Green's
This 12,000SF space was formerly Temple and then T Nightclub. It's latest incarnation is Touch. It's big, it's purple, it has a full dance floor, and the bar changes color when you touch it.
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143 Madison Ave. · Murray Hill
No license found in 2026
You might think that the budget minimalist aesthetic in this awkward space combined with top 40's euro dance hits and pricey weak cocktails would keep this place empty. You'd be wrong. "The Phantom Menace" broke box office records, and this star trooper chic hole is packed every weekend.
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12 Spring St. · NoLita
Still pouring
A tiny lounge in the back and a small pub like room in the front. It packs beyond capacity on weekends with a business casual contingent.
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125 E. 11th St. · NoHo
A different business is licensed at this address: Spectrum Catering And Concessions
This huge historic ballroom smack in the middle of NYU hosts a variety of events from live music to cabaret acts, but on weekends its all about dancing and clubbing and it's the lack exclusivity that's the draw.
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1567 Broadway · Midtown West
Closed; now Dos Caminos Times Square
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?
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21 Essex St. · Chinatown
Closed; now Clockwork
Sasha Petraske conceived NYC's cocktail craze, and now he's aborting it. The only thing that you'll be able to persuade him to mix into your drink at his latest bar is ice, and even that's viewed with suspicion. At least you'll get your drink fast.
Brooklyn
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325 Franklin Ave. · Clinton Hill
A different business is licensed at this address: C'mon Everybody
This recently redesigned Clinton Hill bar/club has kept the house party vibe, but sharpened up its image. Weekly events range from comedy to movies, but on weekends hip-hop rules a hot pick-up scene.
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335 Smith St. · Carroll Gardens
Still pouring
Behind its incospicous Smith Street façade lies a former Italian social club turned hip bar. Sticking close to its roots it retains a feel of old world decadence.
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210 Smith St. · Boerum Hill
Still pouring
Carroll Gardens gets their very own pricey, high brow cocktail bar. At the moment the place feels more like a genre exercise than a good time, but it's anyone's guess how it will develop as it matures.
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15 Putnam Ave. · Clinton Hill
No license found in 2026
The best garden bar in Clinton Hill.
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46 Washington Ave. · DUMBO
Closed; now Recess
Judging by the décor and drink prices you could be at an A list bottle-service club in Manhattan, but the crowd here is all Brooklyn. When it's on, the scene is like no other, unfortunately the DJ and crowd can be hit or miss depending on the night.
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506 5th Ave. · South Slope
A different business is licensed at this address: Young Ethel's
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74 5th Ave. · North Slope
Closed; now Honeycomb Hi-Fi Lounge
There's an inherent beauty in simple ideas executed perfectly. An elegant space, a U-shaped bar, a truly interesting wine list with some bottles in the low $20s, and great jazz instead of the bartender's iPod on shuffle.
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Union HallPick
702 Union St. · North Slope
Still pouring
Opened in July 2006 and destined to be a neighborhood classic this enormous and truly grand space features not one but two indoor bocce courts.
Queens
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49-09 25th Ave. · Astoria
A different business is licensed at this address: Starlets
An 8,000 SF club with bottle service, dancing and VIP lounges in Astoria?
Already closed by 2009
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Le SoukClosed by 2009
47 Ave. B · East Village
No license found in 2026
Closed April 2008 when the local community board finally managed to get its liquor license revoked. It's loud. It's crowded. And on Thursday through Saturday there's a velvet rope scene to rival any club in the Meatpacking District, but it's Le Souk. And there's no where else in the city with quite the same sweaty, sexy, North African machismo, euro-dance vibe -- if that's your thing.
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MannahattaClosed by 2009
316 Bowery · NoHo
No license found in 2026
--After closing Feb 2008 the bar Crime Scene just down the street attempted to take over its bottle service scene and guest list, wishful thinking doesn't even begin to describe it.-- Gigantic 6,000-square-foot space packs on weekends. Come for brunch and grab one of over three dozen outdoor tables.
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Mr. BLACKClosed by 2009
77 Bleecker St. · Greenwich Village
No license found in 2026
To say that this subterranean dance club is a scene is a bit of an understatement. Pretty much one giant dance floor with a few darkened corners for all manner of indiscretions.
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PMClosed by 2009
50 Gansevoort St. · MeatPacking District
No license found in 2026
Towering ceilings, palm trees, splashes of primary colors, and leather booths create a scene of island glamor. Stop by for dinner first to duck the ultra-exclusive door. NOTE: CLOSED Jan 2 2008 - Feb 1st 2008 by order of State Liquor Authority.
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SnitchClosed by 2009
59 W. 21st St. · Union Square/ Flatiron
A different business is licensed at this address: Doux Supper Club
Open 24 hours on weekends this restaurant bar and live music venue fills a niche for rockers with deep pockets.
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StereoClosed by 2009
512 W. 29th St. · Chelsea
No license found in 2026
The former home of the Coral Room is now an homage to hip-hop's adolescence. If you squint just right the boom boxes, tape decks, and break dancing evoke a scene that most of the patrons were too young to remember.
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VivaPickClosed by 2009
4168 Broadway · Washington Heights
No license found in 2026
Flaming mojitos, semi-transparent unisex bathrooms, and a sleek crisp and coherent design aesthetic have made this uptown lounge one of the hottest places to be in any part of Manhattan.
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Worth LoungeClosed by 2009
83 Worth St. · TriBeCa
No license found in 2026
College town style theme nights (Lingerie party win a $50 gift certificate) and a dance mix of hip-hop and South Asian dance pop creates an atmosphere where Rutgers post graduate students and JPMorgan juinior traders can share bottles of Alize and get their groove on.