Snowed In At Club 20

[+ Lucky]

With 20 inches of snow forecast tonight, I expect several of you to be snowed in at Club 20, with a popular dancer to keep you warm. Give him lots of tips, then, when the doors lock and you can't leave he will rush to your side hoping to keep the party going all night! Good luck!

[rentingdad]

HAHA! TJ and are in NYC now and planning to venture out to the new club around 9pm then maybe club 20. At the very least I'll get snowed in with TJ. Also, as of right now not snowing in NYC yet!

[+ g56whiz]

I don’t know about you RD but I found the C.L. Lounge to be very much a “work in progress” but with a lot of potential. But I’m biased. When I walked in, Trysten fled from behind the bar to give me a great big hug. He couldn’t believe that I still had the St. James Hotel card on which he written his cell phone number in the last days of the Gaiety (of blessed memory). Of course that Trysten could flee his post says something about the thin crowd but it was only a bit after 9 PM and the snow had already begun. Marc Anthony, the manager (and late of Club 20 and a former dancer at Gaiety before that) was busy with his managerial duties but still took time and care to greet patrons warmly on a cold, cold night. I could stay for only one dancer who was, at best, only adequate in physique and “hotness”.

 

The format is like that at Rawhide without the rustic ambience of venue and patrons: a single dancer on a box. Lap dancing reportedly occurs later.

 

Why do I think it C.L. Lounge has potential? Mark Anthony and Trysten have been around this block several times and have learned what does and doesn’t work. Moreover, it’s clear that they are patron focused and inclusive. As I was leaving, they even opened a small, four chaffing dish, buffet that could have amply fed all of the sparse crowd. As for the dancers, I noticed one of the more muscular and sexy dancers from that other venue in civvies waiting to appear. He’s also happens to be mentor to a number of the younger muscular Latinos who’ve been the mainstay of that other venue line up since it opened. Then again, most of the better dancers from Club 20 remember Mark Anthony from his days there at the beginning. The fact is that C.L. Lounge, at least in this manifestation, will never need 20 or more dancers to be a success. The place is so small that it doesn’t have to expand much to insure a lively evening for all. Five or six of the right dancers would do it.

 

The one thing they’re going to have to reconsider is the music: not the choice but the volume. Many of there patrons are going to be of an age group (like your writer) that finds loud music is a small space to be physically painful, Last night, in the void, it was so loud I don’t think I could understood what a dancer was offering if he come up me to offer a lap dance.

 

Once this place reaches a crucial mass it will be spectacular and I expect to help it reach that critical mass!

[Cooper]

G56, Thanks for the review. I hope you're right when you say the CL Lounge "has potential". Without a good line-up, the patrons won't attend and, without the deep-pockets of the patrons, the dancers won't show up... As for "loud music", who's it for? The young hip dancers or the hard of hearing older patrons? Hope you mentioned that to the manager. The CL Lounge has to realize they are competing for the 20C patrons. You're are going to have to have something really good to offer them to make that switch.. Btw, what time does lap dancing start? and, is there an area set aside for it? Also, what were the drink prices?

 

Good luck to the staff of the CL Lounge.

 

Coop

[JT Brooklyn]

Hey Guys,

CL does sound like it has many possibilities for a Sunday Night in NYC. ;-)

 

Maybe it wouldn't even be bad if it turned into a somewhat Reincarnation of STELLAS?

 

Although I know there were those who didn't care for that type of atmosphere that much? BUT most admit there should be an alternative to visiting CLUB Money..Oh Sorry I meant Club Twenty!

 

IMHO of course as always.. ;-)

 

P.S Years ago the Management in many Bars were of the thinking, Loud Music gave the impression everyone was having a Merry Old Gay Time!

Even when there was only 5 people sitting at the Bar! This was strictly a Mental State of mind, rather than having them sit in a Dead Bar with Dead Air and everyone hearing everyone elses conversation! Which was usually about someone at the other end of the Bar! LOL

[Guest msclonly]

LOUD MUSIC mean only one thing!

 

It gives a ~FALSE SENSE OF EXCITEMENT and having fun as you grow DEAF!

 

It has no other purpose other then keep the rats at a safe distance!

 

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[+ Lucky]

RE: LOUD MUSIC mean only one thing!

 

I am certain that bars use loud music to keep the clientele young. Nothing drives me away faster than loud music...

[DameDaxx]

What about the frontage of the place? Was there a curtain or anything covering the window?

 

I live near this lounge. It's in an odd part of 9th avenue, with bodegas and projects around it. When I've passed it before it has a big window that you can see through. I wouldn't have thought that would work so well for a bar with dancers.

[+ g56whiz]

The Go-Go box is at the rear. If the place has any crowd at all, all you'd see from the street is maybe gyrations from the nipples up. As for the lap dances, unless they have a separate room which I didn't see, I guess they'd be offered on the banquettes that line either side of the back of the room by the go-go box. Each of those banquettes is recessed beyond the bar on the left and behind the stairway to the basement to the right. I don't they'd be visible from the street either, especially with any kind of crowd.

 

As for the drinks, as Cooper asked, I can't tell. I'm a teetotaler and Trysten graciously declined payment for my first Coke-Cola and I couldn't stay long enough for a second. The go-go dancing and buffet began about 9 PM but no lap dancing had started by the time I left at 9:30. I suspect the guy on the box has a 30 minutes gig and then wanders about to offer his wares. The whole shebang may not get warmed up until 11 PM. Looks like I may get to Club 20 early, rush home to catch Disparate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters then wander back to C.L Lounge . . . I can sleep in Mondays (thank g_d for retirement!).

[rentingdad]

We made it to both 20 and to CL this past Sunday evening. Snow seemed to keep most folks away - at least in the 9-10 pm time when we were there.

 

Club 20 was the same old same old and while we had some free drinks at CL courtesy of Tristan - i wouldn't go out of my way to go back again.

 

We had more fun afterward in the hotel!

[+ g56whiz]

Looks like C. L. Lounge is a work no longer in progress. I went by last night a bit after 10 PM and the restaurant operation looked to be still in place although winding down. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.

[Cooper]

"Looks like C. L. Lounge is a work no longer in progress."

 

GeeeeWhizzz! what's going on at the C.L. Lounge? Gone already?

[Guest GBoy]

I was gonna go check it out, too bad.