Yesterday Gawker posted about a little-known LES space that, if you know the secret handshake, will open its doors to you. Once inside you'll find a reception room, a capacious old theater space... even fishtanks. The night Gawker stumbled in they found a band playing, and in booze-induced wonderment, took a short video clip. The clip was included in the post yesterday but now both have disappeared, becoming as mysterious as this secret club itself!
Enter Grub Street, currently digging for more answers and pointing to the Clinton Theater at 80-82 Clinton Street. According to Cinema Treasures, the 1917 old vaudeville theater had 797 first floor seats, 283 balcony seats, and 182 box seats. When it closed in the '50s it was converted to retail and office space by the Brandt circuit. If you look at the Clinton Street address, it partially appears to be a retail shop. However, the entrance to the space, called The Rumor Mill, is really on Attorney Street -- right about here.
Photos via Kencta's Flickr.
Eater sunk their teeth into the mystery today with more questions than answers; yesterday they quoted the original Gawker post, which said "I shot as much as i could before I was forced to turn my camera off, but I think you can get an idea of the insanity that is this room. Easily one of New York's best kept secrets. I was told its an original vaudeville theater from way back and thats about all I could find out. I managed to spill a drink all over a old piano converted into a bar."
We spoke to one man who has been inside; he tells us: "When you enter the back door on Attorney you have no idea you're about to step into what amounts to a secret, spectacular time capsule. I was there for band practice in 2004 and only glimpsed the backstage area, but it was really surprisingly vast inside, all decaying grandeur and faded opulence... So can you get me an invite to the next party?" Seems that's what everyone is looking for this week.
UPDATE: See Gawker's video clip of the space here.
