Gawker
-
the box
Burlesque Club Drowning In Nastiness
You'll recall that The Box owner Simon Hammerstein was accused of pressuring burlesque performers into three-ways, stashing them in dog-feces-strewn dressing rooms, pushing drugs on them and leaving welts on their assess. He denied most of the charges, and denies them again in this week's New York, backed up this time by some employees. But the magazine also dug up fresh information on the boozing, degenerate performances and sexual favor-trading that allegedly goes on at the nightspot: More » -
the box
Beleaguered Burlesque Club Defends Itself
Simon Hammerstein, co-owner of downtown burlesque theater The Box—which pretty much everyone in the neighborhood wants shuttered—is sort of defending himself—mainly via proxy—against charges that he's a grunting hog who sexually harasses his female employees. And he's doing it in the pages of the Times' Sunday Styles, natch. First of all: he could never be untoward. Because he's engaged to a lady! More » -
the box
Peasants Close in on Nightlife Prince Simon Hammerstein
Poor Simon Hammerstein. First, the burlesque club owner's employee abusing-and-sexing ways were exposed when one of his star burlesque acts quit the Box, along with the tech staff. Then, CityFile rightly and hilariously accused him of setting the entire financial crisis into motion by reminding us that "It all goes back to Friday, March 7th when sleazy club owner Simon Hammerstein, headband-wearing scenester Arden Wohl, gay party boy Derek Blasberg, heiress Amanda Hearst, and gala staple Claire Bernard turned up at the New York Stock Exchange to ring the closing bell." Now, the Box has been denied a renewal for its liquor license, the Observer reports. Then the neighbors showed up, wielding virtual pitchforks and complaining about getting carded while trying to get into their buildings: More » -
the box
Look Backstage For Burlesque Club's Real Scandal
The Box is one of the most interesting and decadent spectacles in downtown nightlife. Owned by Simon Hammerstein, descendant of the theater scion, the jewel-box theater hosts a variety of unique and sexually-charged acts nightly. Open since 2006, it's still a pretty hot ticket—“If you’re good enough to make it in, you’ll make it in," Box partner Cordell Lochin told the Observer. They're able to charge over a grand for a table on certain nights. But trouble is brewing, and we're not talking about two-bit drug raids or carping scenesters. It looks like the club's sexiness has gone to one owner's head: More » -
the box
Anonymous Box Slanderer Still At Large?
Drug-and-celebrity-laden downtown nightspot The Box can add to its ongoing problems the fact that an unknown disgruntled person is posting angry fliers around town alleging that the club's doorman is a "DRUG PEDDLER who RAPED TWO WOMEN" last year. The Daily News reported today that the anonymous flier guy has been arrested. But today the "BOX-KILLER" weighed in on the comments section of a blog post to declare that he was NOT arrested because posting such fliers is free speech, and furthermore, he still thinks the doorman is an "animal" and a "criminal!" Anonymous fliers and anonymously sourced gossip items and anonymous blog posts: all the makings of a solid story. [Animal] -
Why Didn't He Invite Us?
Wu-Tang dust aficionado Raekwon reportedly did an impromptu show at drug-infested downtown hot spot The Box at 3 a.m. last night. ""The greatest moment in Wednesday night history...I b-lined for the stage and all i could see was blunt smoke and Raekwon. Someone told me that he started the set with saying that he didn't even know how he got there or where he was. !!!" That explains so much. [Medicine Agency]
-
-
things we actually like
The Box
Down By The Hipster passes on a rumor that The Box can't even recruit a lawyer to extricate the downtown cabaret club from its legal woes. It would be amusing, except owner Simon Hammerstein deserves some reward for his ambition, and the smell of schadenfreude is nauseating. More » -
nightlife
Cabaret Partner Also Drug-Ring Operator
Cordell Lochin, partner in L.E.S. cabaret The Box, Nolita’s reservation-impossible La Esquina, and the 205 club, will soon be getting an invite-only box of his own. His other venture—a drug-smuggling ring!—has gotten him 39 months in jail, plus a fine of $35,000. Well, that explains the Box and La Esquina getting raided on the same night. Frequented by the likes of Gisele, Uma Thurman, socialite Fabiola Beracasa, Cuba Gooding Junior, artist Damien Loeb, Atoosa Rubenstein, Lydia Hearst, and Lance Armstrong, the Box hasn't been edgy for like, months. However, a drug-smuggling sentence of one of its backers might make it cool again—at least for a few weeks. [Guest of a Guest] -
RZA, former head of the Wu-Tang Clan, weighs in on the sexual assaults at current hotspot The Box: "'Inside the club and outside the club are two different things. I think when you leave the club the good time ends." [NYDN, quote oddly not online]
-
parties
'Paper' Magazine's Nightlife Awards
"I hate Samantha Ronson, that fucking dyke!" Perez Hilton said on stage last night. He was hosting Paper magazine's third annual Nightlife Awards. Someone (either Paper's Mickey Boardman or Village Voice gossip Michael Musto) had asked him what was going on with all his lawsuits; Samantha is suing him for defamation. It's good to know that his level of wit, sophistication and creativity is sort of lacking all across the board, and not just in his writing or Microsoft Paint drawings. To his credit, he's probably the only person in the world who actually looks thinner on T.V. than in real life! Nominee for "Best Nightlife Photographer" Nikola Tamindzic was there to capture all the bitchy gaiety of the evening.
More »
the box
New York, 9:58 PM
Thu Dec 4
44 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@gawker.com
Tipline: 646-214-8138
Managing Editor:
Gabriel Snyder | Email
Day Editor:
Alex Pareene | Email
Night Editor:
Ryan Tate | Email
Writers:
Sheila McClear | Email
Hamilton Nolan | Email
Richard Lawson | Email
Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley | Email
- LifehackerScreenshot Tour
- GawkerAmerican Apparel
- DeadspinJimmy patsos
- Jalopnikcustom cars
- ConsumeristWalmart
- KotakuMidway
- io9December books
- Valleywagmeltdowns
- GizmodoTech Culture
- JezebelBritney Spears
- DefamerPop Culture Doomsday
