There-goes-the-neighborhood-isms are inevitable when talking about New York City nightlife. New clubs and restaurants are named after the shuttered factories and storefronts they inhabit; bars with history are tourist attractions by virtue of rarity. Yes, a Wells Fargo bank has supplanted legendary jazz haven Lenox Lounge, and VICE Media has long since displaced Williamsburg rock venues 285 Kent and Glasslands with its Silicon Valley-scale offices, but even so, there are more places to drink than ever. Among the polished lounges and warehouses bumping with all-night raves, you can still find community. Owners, artists, bartenders and bouncers, of course, are what give these places—new and old—their soul.
For New York City’s nightlife personalities, the pandemic has turned their worlds right side up. Since March, many have been spending their waking hours like the rest of us — rising with the sun, as opposed to the other way around. “If I’m still out on someone’s stoop at 11:30 p.m., I’m yawning,” said Mohammed Fayaz, an illustrator and the art director of Papi Juice, a Brooklyn-based art collective that threw its last in-person event on Valentine’s Day at Elsewhere. “Which is crazy, considering that I’d be out until 5 a.m. normally.” And while COVID has been particularly disruptive to the nightlife community, sometimes devastatingly so, the show must go on, and most have found ways to stay busy from their apartments — and keep their communities drinking and dancing, too.
These are women that work in the music industry, mostly behind the scenes and out of sight. You don’t see them but if they weren’t there you would know it immediately. They are publicists, publishers, sound engineers, photographers, managers, booking agents, journalists, creative directors, project managers, label owners, A&Rs, art directors, show promoters, video directors… These are women that work to give artists’ their starts, shape their careers, lead their way, make them sound good, make them look good, make sure their artistic vision is communicated correctly, make sure their needs are met. These are names you see in the liner notes but not on the stage. These are women that make things happen and without them the whole thing would fall apart. I met some of these women at shoots, some of them at festivals, some of them at shows. Some I never met in person but we exchanged emails so much that I felt I knew them forever. Some I never had contact with before but I knew their work by heart. I am in awe of every one of them for putting their heart into what they do, for caring, for their infinite energy, and just simply being so good at keeping everything moving so smoothly behind the scenes, often without anyone even knowing they are there.
