Living here, one of the things that really opened my little naive Australian eyes was that there are so many people who move here to be cool. To be with the “in” crowd. To develop an innate sense of entitlement. (And yes – the same can be said of LA or San Francisco or any other big city – but since I live in New York and I’ve developed an untimely sense of nostalgia about this city in my less-than-three years here, I shall hop onto my soapbox for a minute.)
I first heard about Don Hill’s in my first weeks living in NYC. At the Tribeca film festival in 2008, I saw Squeezebox The Movie!, a documentary about a rock-’n-roll drag night at Don Hill’s back in the 90s. It was all-inclusive and as the film continued to assert, it was a place where anything went and anyone was welcome, no matter how weird or different.
I went to a couple of parties at Don Hill’s during my first year in NYC. The most memorable was the “Panty Party”, even though I didn’t dare wear anything to0 revealing, where I enjoyed dancing to The Cure with a tranvestite from Connecticut who was going to sleep in his car that night (even though this took place sometime in November). I didn’t feel weird, I wasn’t out of place, and it was really fun.
I’m sad to say that those days are over.
Recently, Paul Sevigny “took over” and the place has become a mecca for the hot, stylish and famous. Don’t believe me? Seriously, It’s All About Don Hill’s.
The articles linked above pay absolutely no mind to the fact that Don Hill’s was a place to enjoy way before the current party set took it over. If Paul’s darling sister Chloe Sevigny thinks it’s the new Beatrice, there’s no way in hell anyone like you or I will be enjoying that place anytime soon.
You watch. Next thing you know, Mars Bar will be cordoned off by a velvet rope. I guess experiencing this over and over might be the thing that makes you real New Yorkers so jaded.
