By Sasha Whyte

LLocal strip club getting you down? Between the steep drink prices, cheesy atmosphere and the dizzying girl selection that can make it all seem like an assembly line, you may find scratching that “itch” a bit difficult.

Luckily, NYC has a network of underground options enticing enough to re-arouse the discontented. The general goal of a lot of these pop-up parties is the same as that of their more mainstream counterparts – to help you part with your money via lap dances and private “champagne” rooms. But what the underground versions usually have over their larger competitors is the ability to arrange for a meeting with that girl of your fantasies while bypassing the red tape of extra fees and “no touchy feely” policies.

The most famous – or infamous – underground strip club at the moment is the Saint Venus Theater, which markets itself as an “art, music and performance inspired erotic venue.” The strippers on tap are said to be reminiscent of “the girl you went to high school or college with.” Thus, keeping in line with an anti-strip club aesthetic that flouts implants and older chicks, but also tending to exclude Black dancers… because SVT owner Rob thinks they go against his “all-American” roster.

What makes a club “underground?” A cabaret license, or lack thereof, separates these clandestine venues from their by-the-book brethren. St. Venus Theater flies under the radar by operating out of a different establishment every night, but each facility it inhabits possesses its own cabaret license. So, technically SVT is more of an alternative to the traditional strip club and not underground. The itinerant quality of SVT buffers it against the safety code and noise complaint summonses mainstream proprietors commonly receive during raids.

According to the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, obtaining a license requires subjection to a fire department code inspection and the approval of the relevant community board, which creates the risk of failing inspection or being turned down by a board. Mainstream chain Sapphire couldn’t sway community board members when it attempted to open a club in a mostly residential Chelsea jurisdiction back in 2009.

Underground pop-up strip clubs began as subdivisions of legal clubs. Realizing the earning potential associated with taking prostitution off of zoned property, owners rented apartments or even bodega basements near their more legitimate locations. Mostly in the outer boroughs of New York City, these spaces housed “locked door” parties that targeted VIP customers for private after-hours rendezvous. One such unit in the notorious Mckibbin Street Lofts catered to Queens clubs such as Scandals and Cityscape in Long Island City.  It signaled its presence to customers by placing a black Barbie doll with braided hair on top of the doorbell. This party existed for a year in the mostly residential Bushwick building until police shut it down in 2004.

A frequent patron of these parties, Lou Posner opened up the most notorious of them all, Hot Lap Dance Club, or HLD, in 2007.  He rented a loft in Hell’s Kitchen and his predominately business class clientele was more upscale than the usual rich drug dealer client base of the outer borough locked door parties. HLD attempted to sidestep licensing by making it a BYOB establishment, but reportedly you could still be served alcohol they provided if you tipped the bartender generously. It would go on to be ranked among the top clubs in the world by Askmen.com, placing higher than Hustler Club, a franchise operating in numerous states.

The club gained public attention when a customer, Stephan Chang, sued after being poked in the eye with a heel during a lap dance. Chang’s suit made humorous fodder for many a news outlet but also brought the heat down on Posner. It was then that a detective discovered an ad for the club – Posner extensively advertised on outlets such as Strip Club List and Craigslist. He pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution in 2010 and in a plea bargain, was required to stay away from the adult entertainment industry until 2015.

Exposure is what brought down Hot Lap Dance Club, says Andre, who currently runs a nameless private party out of a loft in the East 30′s. Most of his customers are gamblers who find out about his operation through the thriving gambling underworld that exists in NYC. “Scumbags are like magnets,” he remarks when asked about how he acquires his customer base. He would prefer more customers but hopes to avoid Posner’s mistake by keeping advertising minimal. The vibe at his parties is more basement bash what with the flowery artwork on the walls and other vestiges from previous tenants.

Andre mostly rents lofts from establishments that cater to underground poker parties and after hours joints, making sure to research the history of a building’s past renters, which are public record. The girls are of an odd assortment, some moonlighting from the more mainstream clubs and others he picks up from placing ads on Craigslist every few months. Though he uses Craigslist to find girls, he does no direct advertising to customers.

Andre started out with a business partner who used to work at HLD, combining his partner’s personal list with his own black book from years of running underground poker establishments. He points out that the underground stripping and gambling worlds are often intertwined – made proof positive by the fact that he facilitates gambling in some of his locations. Andre has been running this party for four years now, changing locations eight different times and making sure never to stay in one place for more than six months. He charges a $40 dollar cover – which is standard for most of these parties – and he throws in a comp on your first drink. Bottle service, a hallmark up-selling maneuver in mainstream clubs, is not offered.

Despite his cautiousness, Andre has been busted three times, but only for code violations that only amounted to fines, never jail time.  “The most they do at raids is ask for the numbers of the girls as they are leaving, but often girls pretend to be paired with one of the customers in something more domestic and are usually able to walk scott free,” he says. As for the risks to customers being caught in an underground establishment, there is very little if anything done to prosecute them.

The underground stripper scene in NYC is cheaper and more straightforward than larger corporate strip clubs, with minimal risk to the customer, making it a fun way to scratch that itch.

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