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Lit Lounge Is Leaving The East Village, Moving To Bushwick
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 9, 2015
Modified Jul 9, 2015
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Jen Carlson/Gothamist
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 9, 2015
Modified Jul 9, 2015
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Lit Lounge, the EV's premier subterranean sweat cave, is closing up shop. It's reopening on McKibbin Street in Bushwick, but who cares.
The news broke via Steve Lewis on Club Planet. Take it away, Steve:
Lit Lounge, an East Village mainstay for 14 years, will finally close its doors. The exact date is unclear, but it will happen according to co-owner Erik Foss within "the next 2 months.” The good news is that will be pretty close to the time a new Lit is expected to open in Bushwick.
The move is yet another nail in the coffin for Manhattan counter culture and another reason to live in the Bushwick / Greenpoint / Williamsburg nexus that has become the cultural cauldron of New York. Manhattan still has some moves but what we once called "downtown" is mostly on the other side of the river.
For many years, Lit was my favorite haunt. It was a dive club with 2 floors of DJ’s and live music in the basement. The Fuse Gallery in the back of the joint hosted the hippest art shows. I had my birthday there a few times and DJed often at the annual anniversary bash.
Over the years the "in" crowd moved out east to Brooklyn where everything was happening. Lit still had its moments but they became fewer and father between. Everyone was elsewhere and the new crowd of NYU kids and slumming yuppies was a turn off to the family atmosphere as well as proprietors Erik Foss and David Schwartz.
Now there is great hope. The place is moving to catch up with its crowd. We will all go to the closing night parties and there will be a certain amount of nostalgia attached but the new Lit on McKibbin in Bushwick holds the promise of the future. Aaron Pierce, founder of the recently closed Trash Bar, is joining the team.
We reported on the birth of Currant Cafe and its adjoining club space last year, referring to it at the time as a "terrifying new restaurant-club hybrid." Co-owner Erik Foss tells Lewis that the club space is finished, and includes two rooms with a DJ booth, bar and bathrooms. It could open "in the next week or in 3 months," pending approval from the city.
This weekend, pay your respects to your old frenemy Lit Lounge. Bat away the sweat of a dozen strangers, decline the offer to snort blow in the bathroom. "Maybe the fresh pastries will be nice!" you'll think as a shirtless man in an ascot licks your cheek. But it won't be the same.
(h/t Bedford + Bowery)
Tagged
bushwick
currant cafe
lit lounge
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Lauren Evans
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