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Passerby

Critics' Pick

436 W. 15th St., New York, NY 10011
nr. Ninth Ave. See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-206-7321 Send to Phone

Reader Rating:
9.0 out of 10
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1 Reviews | Write a Review
Scene: DJ, Lounge, Neighborhood Bar, Singles Scene, Wine Bar

Photo by Shanna Ravindra

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This venue is closed.

This venue is closed

Who says getting your buzz on at a gallery has to involve a plastic cup of tepid Pinot Grigio? Certainly not Gavin Brown, who opened this bar in front of his Chelsea gallery space in 1999 (then again, artist Rob Pruitt once contributed a work called Cocaine Buffet to a group show there, an interactive piece that consisted of a 16-foot line of cocaine on a mirror). Passerby, whose blinking disco floor was also built by an artist, is where the New York-L.A.-Tokyo-London-Paris-Berlin-Yale art-world fabulous touch down while installing shows.

Tumbling into Passerby late night is like showing up at a friend-of-a-friend's party. You don't know what to expect, but you know you're going to have an interesting time. What isn't there to love about a bar in the middle of nowhere with a blinking floor? You feel transported into an alternative parallel Passerby-Universe here where the Andy Warhol crowd is framed in a Saturday Night Fever setting. Or maybe there's a patron belting out The Stones in full Mick-drag, using the bar as a catwalk. Or there's an art exhibit in the back room (or not). You really can't ask for more than that. Good New York fun.

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