Bars and Nightclubs

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    The Unlikely Friendship That Saved Lucy’s, a Homey New York Tavern

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    In the late 1970s, Ludwika Mickevicius left her native Poland for New York City in search of opportunity. She started tending bar in the East Village and became a beloved figure in the neighborhood.It wasn’t always easy — all those 4 a.m. nights, seven days a week, slinging boilermaker after boilermaker — but she had been working hard since she was a girl. While growing up on a farm about 50 miles from Bialystok, she milked the cows, tended the geese and helped with the potato harvest. After that she worked in a textile factory.In the East Village, she was an unlikely den mother to her regulars, who called her Lucy. That became the bar’s name after its previous owner sold the business to her in the 1980s. She ran the place for more than four decades.“I never thought I’d one day have a bar and end up selling alcohol,” Ms. Mickevicius, 84, said. “But you can’t control life.”As the East Village underwent a transformation from gritty hamlet to fashionable district, Lucy’s stayed exactly the same — a homey dive along Tompkins Square Park with two pool tables, a jukebox, a graffiti-covered bathroom and the occasional vodka shot on the house.Ms. Mickevicius operated the bar for years on a casual, month-to-month lease. But after the building was sold over a year ago for $19 million, the new landlord more than doubled the rent. Lucy’s sat dark and empty behind an iron gate.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Nightclub Fire Kills at Least 59 in North Macedonia

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      The tragedy occurred after fireworks set the club’s roof on fire during a pop concert, the country’s interior minister said.Outside the nightclub where a fire broke out in Kocani, North Macedonia, on Sunday.Televizija Kocani, via ReutersAt least 59 people were killed and 155 others were injured when a fire broke out overnight in a nightclub in North Macedonia, the country’s interior minister, Panche Toshkovski, said on Sunday. The blaze — the deadliest national tragedy in recent memory — has horrified the small country in southeastern Europe.“The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of the families, loved ones and friends is immeasurable,” Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski wrote on X. He called it “a difficult and very sad day” for North Macedonia.Mr. Toshkovski told reporters that arrest warrants had been issued for four people in connection with the blaze.The fire occurred during a pop concert at the club in the eastern town of Kocani, Mr. Toshkovski told reporters. Fireworks had been set off, causing the roof to catch fire, he said.One police officer died while on duty inside the club to check for drugs or underage guests, he added. Officials have identified 35 of the dead, 31 of whom were from Kocani.Angela Aggeler, the American ambassador to the country, wrote on X, “My heart breaks this morning for the many victims in last night’s fire at a nightclub in Kochani.” She added, “The loss of so many young lives in one community is a terrible tragedy.”North Macedonia, a small country of about two million people, is nestled between Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia. The town where the blaze occurred is about 50 miles east of the capital, Skopje.For many, the blaze brought up painful memories of a fire at a North Macedonian hospital for coronavirus patients in 2021. At least 14 people died in that fire at a mobile hotel, which happened in Tetovo, in the country’s northwest.This weekend’s fire is one of several recent infernos in nightclubs. In 2024, at least 29 people were killed in a club fire in Istanbul. In 2023, 13 people were killed when a club complex caught fire in Spain. A 2015 fire killed at least 27 people in Romania, and a 2013 fire killed at least 233 people in Brazil.In Kocani, the death toll may still rise: Arben Taravari, the health minister, told reporters that 20 people were in critical condition.Ognen Cancarevik, a reporter for Telma, a national television station, called the episode “a terrible tragedy.”“People are shocked,” he said in a phone interview. “People are angry. People want answers, and people want to know who is responsible.”Kocani is a small town, he said, and many people in the region work in agriculture. Young people often leave the country to look for work or higher salaries abroad, he said, and many Macedonians are frustrated by low salaries and corruption.“The morale is low,” Mr. Cancarevik said. “The last thing we need is a tragedy of this scale where young and innocent kids die.” More

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      China’s Latest Security Target: Halloween Partygoers

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      Last year, the Shanghai government said Halloween celebrations were a sign of “cultural tolerance.” This year, the police rounded up people in costume.Social media videos verified by The New York Times showed police in Shanghai escorting away people dressed in costumes.The police escorted the Buddha down the street, one officer steering him with both hands. They hurried a giant poop emoji out of a cheering dance circle in a public park. They also pounced on Donald J. Trump with a bandaged ear, and pushed a Kim Kardashian look-alike, in a tight black dress and pearls, into a police van, while she turned and waved to a crowd of onlookers.The authorities in Shanghai were on high alert this past weekend, against a pressing threat: Halloween.Officials there clamped down on Halloween celebrations this year, after many young people turned last year’s festivities into a rare public outlet for political or social criticism. People had poured into the streets dressed up as Covid testing workers, to mock the three years of lockdowns they had just endured; they plastered themselves in job advertisements, amid a weak employment market; they cross-dressed, seizing the opportunity to express L.G.B.T.Q. identities without being stigmatized.At the time, many on Chinese social media celebrated the revelries as a joyous form of collective therapy. The Shanghai government even issued a news release saying the celebrations were proof of the city’s “cultural tolerance” and the “wisdom of its urban managers.”“There is an absence of festivals in China solely dedicated to the simple pleasures of having fun,” it said. “Halloween has filled the void.”But the authorities have grown increasingly restrictive toward personal expression in recent years, including seemingly apolitical expression. They are also wary of impromptu crowds, especially after the anti-lockdown protests in 2022. And so, for all their praise last year, this year they seemed determined to prevent a repeat.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Windmills Are Back Up on the Moulin Rouge

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      The Paris landmark has completed its restoration after the blades fell off this spring — and just in time for the Summer Olympic Games to begin.The moulin is back. The rouge never left.The Moulin Rouge, the famed Paris cabaret, has restored its iconic windmill after its blades broke and fell to the ground in April. The construction was finished weeks before the Paris Olympics are set to begin — and before the flame passes by on its relay route through Paris on July 15.“We wanted to be ready for this special moment,” said Jean-Victor Clerico, the managing director, whose family has run the cabaret since 1955, adding, “The Moulin Rouge without the blades? It’s not the same.”The cabaret, whose name means “red windmill” in French, has stayed open through the repairs. But it had stood functionally topless since April, when parts of the lettering also fell. No one was injured; a spokeswoman blamed a mechanical problem.Sympathy poured in from around the world, Mr. Clerico said. Fans sent in letters of support, he said. Some even wrote poems. For two months, the Moulin Rouge raced to remount the aluminum blades, pushing a metalwork company to work quickly to meet their deadline.Finally, right on schedule, the cabaret celebrated its full return to glory on Friday evening with a street show. As the bright neon lights on the windmill flicked back on, a crowd of about 1,500 people burst into cheers, Mr. Clerico said.Dancers performed the cancan — an emblem of the city, and of the cabaret culture epitomized by the Moulin Rouge — in blue, white and red costumes. They yipped and kicked, rustling their ruffles and shaking their skirts. Mr. Clerico said that the outdoor show was only the second time that the cabaret put on a cancan on the street. (The first was on its 130th anniversary in 2019.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      East Hampton Locals Rally Against Zero Bond

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      Scott Sartiano proposed bringing his Manhattan-based members-only hot spot, Zero Bond, to a historic village inn. Local residents are not rolling out the red carpet.Whether it’s complaints about air traffic at the East Hampton airport, teenagers partying on the beach or the arrival of Uber and Lyft drivers, the controversies that dominate the news cycle on the East End of Long Island, N.Y., are usually about one thing: noise — and who, in a place where residents are used to getting nearly everything they want, is allowed to make it.This summer, media fireworks are popping over Zero Bond, the members-only club in Lower Manhattan that is attempting to open an outpost here four years after it became the ne plus ultra of downtown status spots — the place Page Six wrote about because it was where Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson had their second date, where Gigi Hadid celebrated her 27th birthday, where Elon Musk hosted his after party for the Met Gala and where Eric Adams made himself at home during his 2021 mayoral campaign.Much like that of a Birkin bag, Zero Bond’s appeal is due (at least in part) to how difficult it is to gain access. As its founder, Scott Sartiano, has said, “You can’t buy cool.”Although having money helps: After submitting an application, a suggested letter of recommendation from a current member and a headshot, anyone who wishes to join the club must also pay a onetime initiation fee and yearly dues, which increase with the age of the applicant. (Those under 28 pay a $750 onetime fee and $2,750 annually; those over 45, a $5,000 initiation fee and $4,400 annually.)The Stephen Talkhouse, in Amagansett, has hosted shows by the likes of Jon Bon Jovi and Jimmy Buffett (who tended bar during a Coldplay performance).Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXMMr. Sartiano’s efforts to establish his private club in a centuries-old building known as the Hedges Inn, currently a 13-room luxury bed-and-breakfast, have been widely reported. But while he is said to be negotiating to lease the property, even town officials do not have confirmation of whether an agreement has been signed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jeff Bezos, Doja Cat and Pamela Anderson Pregame the Met Gala

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      Designers, athletes and celebrities swapped stories on dress fittings and gala prep routines on the eve of fashion’s biggest party.On Sunday evening, the rapper Doja Cat swept into an upscale French restaurant in SoHo carrying a disposable Starbucks cup. She stashed it at the bar, and then made her way to the rear of the room to kiss the actress Pamela Anderson on one makeup-free cheek.Ms. Anderson was hosting a party with the label Monse as a kind of amuse-bouche for the Met Gala the next night. About 100 designers, editors and models gathered at La Mercerie, the restaurant and home goods store, to greet one another with some version of the line: “I have such a busy day tomorrow.”Ms. Anderson planned to wake at 5 a.m. — a feat she said would not require an alarm clock — and then head to a park for a moment of peace before her first Met Gala. “I’m going to be walking all of those scary feelings out,” she said.Under the ceiling’s central arch, servers circulated trays of buttered radishes. Guests sipping Sancerre traded thoughts on increasingly elaborate gala prep routines. (Fillers came up, as did Ozempic.)Doja Cat said she would be sticking to “regular old beauty prep,” with the help of the makeup artist Pat McGrath.Clockwise from top left: Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos; Pamela Anderson; Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim; and Lizzo and Gabrielle Union.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Look at Washington State’s ‘Strippers’ Bill of Rights’

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      Signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee, the legislation provides wide-ranging protections for adult dancers.Washington State recently enacted a law that includes wide-ranging workplace protections for adult dancers, who have long fought for such measures across the country.The law, known as the Strippers’ Bill of Rights, was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on March 25. It includes anti-discrimination provisions and mandatory club employee training.Supporters of the law say that it includes incentives for establishments to comply, as it carves a path for them to obtain liquor licenses. The state traditionally has prohibited venues that allow sexual performances to sell alcohol.“It is crucial that we confront the stigma surrounding adult entertainment and recognize the humanity of those involved in the industry,” State Senator Rebecca Saldaña of Seattle, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement.“Strippers are workers,” she said, “and they should be given the same rights and protections as any other labor force.”Madison Zack-Wu, the campaign manager for Strippers Are Workers, a dancer-led organization that supported the bill, said in an interview that “the most important part of this policy is that it was created by dancers, for ourselves in our own working conditions.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Ashwin Deshmukh Knew How to Win Friends and Hustle People

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      Sometimes, you meet someone in New York who gives you a good feeling and a bad feeling at the same time. Maybe you’re introduced at a bar, through a friend of a friend. This person is charming and full of ideas, ideas that resonate with you. He seems to know everyone you know, and some other people you follow only on social media. You like him, even though you wonder whether he’s for real. He has a story about the city and his place in it, a story in which he may invite you to play a role. This is tempting. You get the sense that he has a momentum unlike other people’s, toward a destination that could be glamorous — or maybe catastrophic.One such person is Ashwin Deshmukh, the 38-year-old managing partner of Superiority Burger, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in New York.Since reopening last April, the high-low vegetarian diner in the East Village has garnered a three-star review from The New York Times, a James Beard Award nomination, and the title, bestowed by GQ magazine, of “Buzziest Restaurant in America.” That it took over the space once occupied by the venerable Odessa Restaurant, saving the neighborhood from yet another Duane Reade or Capital One, has made it only more beloved.But June Kwan, the owner of the East Village Sichuan restaurant Spicy Moon, does not love Superiority Burger — or at least, the people behind the restaurant. In February, she sued them twice. The first suit asserts that since 2021, when Ms. Kwan invested a quarter of a million dollars in Superiority Burger through Mr. Deshmukh, the business has gone dark, refusing to send her proof of her equity, and eventually ignoring her altogether. The second suit alleges that in 2022, Ms. Kwan lent $200,000 to Mr. Deshmukh, and that he hasn’t repaid a penny.Text messages attached to the suits capture the breakdown of Mr. Deshmukh’s relationship with Ms. Kwan, a Taiwanese immigrant who started her business in middle age. Ahead of Ms. Kwan’s initial investment, Mr. Deshmukh wrote to her that “I am so confident in this and our friendship that I am happy to personally guarantee your investment on a five-year basis.”In October 2022, after a month of asking Mr. Deshmukh to repay the loan in increasingly desperate terms, Ms. Kwan wrote: “I have supported you with my full heart, but now you don’t pay me back the money and don’t update what happened to sb when I’m a shareholder. I don’t sleep well because of this.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More