Nebula, a Big New Club, Wants Manhattan to Dance Again

Two years in the past, Yang Gao and Richie Romero have been watching over a really noisy and really costly building challenge: Digging down, down, down, beneath the ground of an outdated constructing on West forty first Avenue, simply off Occasions Sq..

Mr. Gao, an entrepreneur, and Mr. Romero, a nightlife impresario, have been carving out Nebula, a large dance membership. By blasting into the bedrock, the ceilings might be that a lot increased — 27 toes above the dance flooring.

Recognized within the tabloids as a “membership king,” Mr. Romero had particular concepts about what Nebula ought to and shouldn’t be. The primary factor was, it needed to be the sort of place the place folks would truly dance, somewhat than lounge the evening away in banquettes.

That’s the way it was when he began going into Manhattan from Queens as a teen, keen to indicate off his strikes at Tunnel, Palladium and Membership USA. Everyone went out on the ground again then. You mingled. You sweated. You bought into it. By age 18, Mr. Romero was working as a promoter of events at Limelight. He was armed with a beeper and an inventory of greater than 2,000 names and numbers. In case your title was the listing, Richie waved you in.

“Manhattan was the king of the world again then,” Mr. Romero, 46, stated. “The phases have been greater than the DJs. Each DJ wished to play them.”

He was sitting in Nebula’s balcony throughout off hours. The place was empty and quiet. He recalled an early success he had, taking up the problem of Monday nights on the China Membership and simply packing the place.

“I used to be 19 years outdated,” he stated. “I used to be so excited. I believed I used to be a giant shot.”

Manhattan should be the epicenter of finance and media, however the membership scene has moved elsewhere — Miami, Berlin, Las Vegas, even Scottsdale, Ariz. Lately, New York is “the little stepsister,” Mr. Romero lamented. And though Marquee goes robust on Tenth Avenue, New York’s nightlife power has moved on to Brooklyn.

With Nebula, Mr. Romero and Mr. Gao are hoping to return Manhattan to its glory nights. Mr. Gao stated he plowed some $12 million into the challenge, an enormous gamble to take in the midst of a pandemic, when nightlife was on lockdown.

“Coping with the uncertainty of all of it scared the hell out of me,” Mr. Romero stated.

At 10,000 sq. toes unfold over three ranges, Nebula was the biggest new nightclub within the metropolis when it opened final September. The primary dance flooring is 5,000 sq. toes. A D&B sound system pumps out the beats. Six LED projection screens descend from the ceiling to surround visitors in trance-like visuals.

The multimedia facet has appealed to the tech crowd. “Each NFT firm desires to return right here and do one thing,” Mr. Romero stated.

Nebula has additionally turn into a go-to place for newly minted 13-year-olds: “Humorous,” he added. “We’re just like the king of the bar mitzvahs now.”

The non-public occasions, which occur on weeknights, are a profitable sideline to the primary attraction: weekend dance events with high DJs from world wide, together with Jamie Jones, Artbat and Eric Prydz, all of whom are scheduled to carry out at Nebula this month.

As New York’s golf equipment have turn into extra lounge-like lately, with a give attention to bottle service for prime rollers who lay out $10,000 to $20,000 for a non-public desk, Nebula is decidedly old style.

“I need to seize the folks which can be inventive, which can be in a position to enter the membership and admire the music,” stated Mr. Gao, Nebula’s proprietor.

Mr. Gao, 42, is new to the nightlife business. A classically skilled oboist who as soon as performed within the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, he stated he has a hand in a number of companies, together with a wine retailer in Astoria and East River occasion boats. About 5 years in the past he began searching for membership house in Manhattan, insisting the ceiling peak be no less than 21 toes. After signing the lease in late 2018, he sought out Mr. Romero.

Nebula’s location has an extended historical past in clubland. It was previously Saci, Present and Area. Most just lately, it housed Circle, a Korean American spot that outlined going out for a era of the Asian and Asian American communities in New York till it closed in 2018. Mr. Romero promoted events in any respect of these venues, besides Circle. Lately, he drifted out of nightlife and acquired into quick-service eating places, opening a pizza chain, Zazzy’s, solely to be lured again by Mr. Gao.

“I consider in good bones. And this room all the time had good bones,” stated Mr. Romero, who speaks at 200 beats per minute. “Sat down. Noticed the imaginative and prescient. Got here in right here. We began placing all of it collectively and made Nebula Nebula.”

Enterprise boomed within the temporary window between opening and Omicron, Mr. Romero stated. Since then, provide chain issues have led to shortages of Don Julio 1942, the membership’s hottest tequila. The banquettes meant for the sides of the primary dance flooring didn’t arrive till final week.

For individuals who stay cautious of massive crowds, Mr. Gao designed non-public rooms on the basement degree, every with its personal sound system, lights and loo. Regardless of reviews of coming Covid-19 waves, he stated he’s optimistic.

“I do know that individuals need to come out,” Mr. Gao stated. “Individuals lengthy for human interactions. That’s after I determined that this sector isn’t going away.”

At 12:30 a.m. on a latest Tuesday, Nebula’s primary dance flooring was practically full. As photos flashed on the LED screens, a number of hundred clubgoers have been dancing to Woman Gaga’s “Poker Face.” The occasion was Tuesday Child Tuesday, an evening put aside for individuals who work at nightclubs.

“It’s an business evening,” Jonas Younger-Borra, 37, a musician and former male mannequin who described himself because the “left-hand, right-hand” to Mr. Romero, stated over the music. “You get folks from different golf equipment who can’t exit on the weekends, plus the 21 and up crowd.”

Mr. Romero, who stood watching the motion on the dance flooring, stated that, when it comes to the gang, this was a bit sluggish for a Tuesday. He promised a much bigger turnout the next week, when 50 Cent could be making an look. However after two years of social isolation, it was unbelievable all the identical to see a whole lot of our bodies so shut collectively, with out masks or discernible phobias. Hostesses introduced Champagne bottles topped with sparklers to the V.I.P. part.

New York has modified since Mr. Romero’s Limelight youth, however he was decided that some issues wouldn’t.

“It’s vital,” he stated, “that we hold Manhattan thriving.”