Area was a themed

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

that operated from 1983 to 1987 at 157 Hudson Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was a hot spot for celebrities and luminaries of the New York art scene. The club was known for its unusual invitations and changing themes.Kornbluth, Jesse
"Inside Area: The Wizardry of New York's Hottest Club"
''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', pp. 32-41, March 11, 1985. Area was founded by brothers Eric Goode and Christopher Goode, Shawn Hausman and Darius Azari. The life of the club is chronicled in the book ''Area: 1983-1987'' (2013) by Eric and Jennifer Goode.

History

The brick building housing Area was originally built in 1866 to house the stables of

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation specialized in payment card industry, payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Man ...

. From its inception, the club became known for its creative invitations. 5,000 invitations were sent in capsules for the September 1983 opening. They sent champagne-bottle crackers for New Year's Eve, hollowed-out eggs for Natural History, and black handkerchiefs for Halloween. The club was opened on Mondays and Wednesday through Saturday. The themed decors changed every six weeks with themes such as Art, Confinement, Suburbia, and Science Fiction that incorporated elaborate installations. Serge Becker was the art director. Their art department also consisted of Jennifer Goode, Michael Staats, Kenny Baird. Ben Buchanan was the official photographer for the club and was there most nights documenting the scene. These photos were in ''Details'' every month and often in the ''New York Post'' and ''Daily News''. Area attracted many celebrities such as

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of '' Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism ...

, and

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside ...

. There are several mentions of Area in '' The Andy Warhol Diaries''.

Michael Musto Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. Musto is best known as a columnist for '' The Village Voi ...

, writing for '' Details'' magazine and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' respectively, chronicled the doings there. Musto's book, ''Downtown'' looked back on the phenomenon. In February 1985,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

-winning playwright Jonathan Larson conceived of his unpublished musical ''Superbia'' while in Area's projectionist's booth. By early 1987, Area had closed. Of the "three hot clubs" in lower Manhattan in the 1980s—Area,

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created whe ...

, and

Danceteria Danceteria was a nightclub that operated in New York City from 1979 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. The club operated in various locations over the years, a total of three in New York City and four in the Hamptons. The most famous locat ...

- Area " ieda natural death",Limelight survived with a less artistic clientele, and Danceteria "

ave ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...

way to expensive office space," said Musto. After the

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

of the neighborhood, the building was renovated by

Kevin Kennon Architects Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

to multifamily residential use, with terraced penthouses atop the existing structure.

References

External links

Steve Lewis, Five Easy Pieces: The Best Nightclubs in the History of New York City
BlackBook, August 26, 2009. {{Tribeca, Manhattan Nightclubs in Manhattan Defunct nightclubs in New York (state) Tribeca