Don Hill
Don Hill was the gray-haired veteran scenester and the founder of the SoHo rock club that bore his name. He passed away in 2011, and the club has since closed.
Donald Mulvihill spent eight years running the now-shuttered Cat Club on East 13th Street, earning cred by hosting performances by David Bowie and the Ramones back in the day. In 1993, he opened Don Hill's with the hope the venue could "support local bands and parties that a lot of other places wouldn't take a chance on." He's managed to do just that while also getting kudos for the club's old-school debauchery and divey atmosphere, not to mention some of the most legendary parties in town including Squeezebox, BeavHer, and, more recently, MisShapes. Hill himself wasn't known for anything other than Don Hill's, but its status as one of the city's longest-running dives has given him enormous downtown cred. He's also credited with revitalizing the far West Side below Houston Street. When it opened, Don Hill's was one of the few clubs operating in the then-industrial area. A few months before he died, Hill sold the club to nightlife impresarios Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny, but when Hill passed away, the club shuttered a week later. [Image by David X/Billy Farrell Agency]