Industry Bar

About this place Industry Bar

Industry at 355 West 52nd Street is the largest gay bar in New York City by floor space, and it earns that designation by doing more with it than most venues its size manage anywhere in the world. The multi-level space — ground floor main bar, mezzanine, separate rooms for different events — runs a different programme every night of the week: drag brunches on weekends, themed dance parties on weeknights, go-go dancer nights that attract significant crowds from across the city. The bar sits at the heart of Hell's Kitchen, the neighbourhood that has functionally replaced Chelsea as the geographic centre of Manhattan's gay bar scene, and it reflects that centrality by functioning simultaneously as a neighbourhood local and as the main event venue for the area. The production values are high: professional lighting rigs, quality sound, drag performers who take their craft seriously. The go-go dancers on the bar platforms are a nightly constant. Happy hour runs until 10pm and is reliably busy. Industry is where you go when you want the full New York gay bar experience in a single space — it does not have the historical weight of the Stonewall or the Eagle's leather community function, but it executes the entertainment-bar format better than anywhere else in the city.