Webster Hall
Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant theater and event halls, having hosted social events of all types since the club's construction in 1886 as a "hall for hire".[2] Its current incarnation was opened in 1992 by the Ballinger brothers, with a capacity of 1,400, providing its traditional role as well as for corporate events, and for a recording studio.[3][a] A scholarly account of Webster Hall and its place in the wider history of rock music in Lower Manhattan was published in 2020.[7]
This article is about the nightclub. For other uses, see Webster Hall (disambiguation).Former names
119–125 East 11th Street
New York City Subway:
at 14th Street–Union Square
at Third Avenue
Grand Ballroom: 1,500
Marlin Room: 600
Studio: 400
1886
2018
private
March 18, 2008
Webster Hall has been recognized as the first modern nightclub.[8] On March 18, 2008, after a landmarks proposal was submitted by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Webster Hall and its Annex a New York City landmark.[2]
BSE Global and The Bowery Presents (and Bowery's parent company AEG) acquired the operating rights for and assets of Webster Hall in February 2017, and after a nearly two-year renovation, the venue re-opened to the public on April 26, 2019.[9]
1886–1940[edit]
Webster Hall was built in 1886 by architect Charles Rentz in the Queen Anne style and topped with an elaborate mansard roof. Six years later in 1892, Rentz was hired to design an addition to the building, occupying the site of 125 East 11th Street and designed in the Renaissance Revival style using the same materials as the original building. Throughout the early twentieth century the building was plagued by fires, which occurred in 1902, 1911, 1930, 1938, and 1949. The original mansard roof was likely lost in one of these fires.[10]
Originally commissioned by Charles Goldstein – who operated the hall and also lived in the Annex with his family until his death in 1898 – the building was a "hall for hire" from its inception. The first decade or so of Webster Hall's existence saw it host countless labor union rallies, weddings, meetings, lectures, dances, military functions, concerts, fundraisers and other events, particularly those focused on the working-class and immigrant population of the surrounding Lower East Side neighborhood. Although it also hosted many high-society functions catering to the uppertens of the city, the hall earned a reputation as a gathering place for leftist, socialist, Anarchist and labor union activity very early on.
In 1912, Emma Goldman, the outspoken exponent of Anarchism, free love and birth control, led a march that brought the children of striking Lawrence, Massachusetts millworkers to the hall for a meal in order to dramatize the struggles of the working class. In 1916, it was used as the strike headquarters for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union; in 1920 meetings of the Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee were also held at Webster Hall.
In the 1910s and 1920s, Webster Hall became known for its masquerade balls and other soirees reflecting the hedonism of the city's Bohemians. Nicknamed the "Devil's Playhouse" by the socialist magazine The Masses, Webster Hall became particularly known for the wilder and more risque events of the time; Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Stella, Man Ray, Francis Picabia, Charles Demuth, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, Bob Brown, and many other notables regularly attended events there during this time.
The coming of Prohibition did not restrict the availability of alcohol at these events. Local politicians and police were said to turn a blind eye to the activities; at one time it was rumored that the venue was owned by the mobster Al Capone. The repeal of Prohibition was the reason for one of Webster Hall's biggest celebrations, "The Return of John Barleycorn".
In 1938, reporting on a fire in the building, The New York Times wrote: "Webster Hall ... began by seeing redcheeked debutantes introduced to society and ended – if ended it has – by seeing red-nosed bohemians thumbing defiance at society."[11]
2017–2019[edit]
It was announced on April 2, 2017, that Webster Hall had been sold to Brooklyn Sports Entertainment,[21] a unit of Anschutz Entertainment Group – known as AEG. On May 4, all employees were served termination notices.[22] On May 22, it was reported that Webster Hall would close in mid-August for approximately two years,[23] and would reopen in late 2019 or early 2020 as Spectrum Hall, which would be strictly a concert and sports facility.[24]
In July 2017, Gerard McNamee, the club's director, officially announced that the venue would close after the final show on August 9, 2017, and that it had been purchased by Brooklyn Sports Entertainment. The closing, to update the building's infrastructure for modern use, was planned to be for a period of three years. After that, AEG will present fewer dance nights and more concerts.[25]
After a $10 million renovation and makeover, Webster Hall re-opened on April 26, 2019, with a concert by Jay Z.[26][3]