The Beatrice Inn Diaspora
In April the Beatrice Inn was cruelly shuttered, casting hundreds of refugees into Manhattan at 2am with just the ironic T-shirts on their backs. As rumors of Paul Sevigny's new place build, we look at where those outcasts are now.
We are assured that there will be concrete news of that new venture, in Soho, soon. And that it will indeed be 'the new Beatrice' — unlike the 37 other places that have tried to assume that mantle. The only true title contender, the ballroom at the Jane Hotel, is currently closed for repairs. So these are the places where you'll find the outcasts in their 'Free The Beatrice' T-shirts, while they wait for their exile to end:
- The Boom Boom Room (or whatever it's called now): perhaps because it was originally intended to be a Sevigny project — until some behind-the-scenes machinations put paid to that — the 18th floor bar at Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel has taken in the older, more French elements of the Beatrice diaspora. Olivier Zahm is often in residence, along with the same 12 be-stubbled 40-something French guys hitting on the same seven models. Terry Richardson carries a point-and-shoot, and gets girls to pose for him on the white leather banquettes. George Gurley, the original mapper of the Beatrice crowd (for the Observer back in the heady days of 2008) is here sometimes too.
- Lit: this East Village staple was originally founded in 1643, or thereabouts. It's aesthetic most closely matches the Beatrice — it's all bare walls and unfinished floors. Since they hired the very DJs who used to play in Sevigny's place, the gaggle of younger girls (21 of course) and the celebrities that collectively refer to them as 'low hanging fruit' have moved here. Josh Hartnett is sometimes spotted in tortoiseshell glasses trying to look like he's here for the decor.
- White Slab: this Lower East Side bar and restaurant has taken in the uber-hipsters — the stylists and androgynous others who are sometimes genuinely disconcerting in their appearance. The Olsen twins, Beatrice regulars, look conservatively dressed when they show up.
- Southside: the slightly preppy, Ivy League crew who worked at Conde or Hearst and hung out by the bar in Beatrice have returned to their chino-wearing roots at this Soho/Nolita basement club. They now blend in seamlessly among the Upper East Siders who start the night uptown at Dorrians, in blazers and pink pants, then go home to change into jeans before heading downtown to line up around the block here. (This is not an exaggeration — they literally change uniforms.)
- The Bowery Hotel (on Fridays): this party is run by Simonez, who used to DJ at Beatrice and pulls in pretty much the whole crowd.
- Avenue (on Tuesdays): ostensibly a place owned and operated by the people behind Marquee — one which relies on bottle service no less — should be poison to the diaspora. But this occasional party features Todd and Angelo, the door guys from Beatrice, and used to be hosted by Sevigny himself.
Fear not! They will soon be reunited in the promised land! There will be milk and honey and bottles of Bud and Makers Mark on the rocks at 3.59am!