New York Coke Bars
Really, any bar's a coke bar with the right inclination and determination. However, some places are known for blow, and some bathrooms are extra snort-friendly. We've assembled a by-no-means comprehensive list of locales where you're most likely to walk in on someone hoovering up a line or two. Have other suggestions? Let us know. For, you know, the journalism. After the jump, some of the city's favorite indoor skiing.
Schiller's Liquor Bar: Though its bathrooms aren't super accommodating for blowing lines, the scene certainly is, and Schillers is a confirmed spot. We hear the men's bathroom has more activity, but there are also reports of some snorting in the women's stalls. No sightings in the communal hand-washing area, which we think is sad. Why would they make a unisex section of a bathroom if not to encourage male and female partiers to share in the experience?
Mercer Hotel Bar: A trustworthy informant tells us that Robert de Niro, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Jude Law were recently spotted in the bathroom at the Mercer Hotel bar. Not all of them were doing lines, but at least a couple were. Celebrities and coke? Shocking we know.
Lit: The dingy music venue is packed with college kids enduring their friends' horrific bands. The bathrooms are definitely not clean but still quite active. Either it's aspiring rockers going for the cokehead lifestyle since they're regrettably sans talent, or it's the glut of NYU-ers with too much money and too little sense. Either way the dive's WC's are popular for bumps.
Motherfucker: The Motherfucker party changes locations pretty regularly, but the excessive amounts of cocaine consumed are a known constant. This mega-party (held before every holiday) attracts drag queens, DJs, hipsters, and costumed poseurs from all over the city. It's a toss up whether more people are on coke or ecstasy (or both), but you can bet no one's getting wasted via the jacked-up drink prices on top of the $20 cover.
Shindig: Shindig is smaller and more tolerable than Motherfucker but doesn't miss out on the drugz. As one informant tells us, "I tripped and fell in a pile of cocaine at the last Shindig." Crowded with artists, bands, and their hip-kid friends, even the horrendous and busy bathroom at recent party venue Videoland doesn't stop the resourceful cokehead.
Soho Grand: Another standard-issue celebrity and socialite coke spot, as opposed to our dirty and divey picks. The Soho Grand hotel's immaculate bar bathroom is a dependable favorite for the rich and trendy to snort away.
Supreme Trading: Bar, lounge, event space, art exhibitor -- Supreme Trading is every Williamsburg artist's wet dream. And it's also their favorite neighborhood place to do coke. With so much space, you can snort lines in privacy when it's not too busy, or meet fellow fiends during any of the more popular parties.
Studio Mezmor: Formerly the heinous Chelsea club Crobar, there's no reason to expect that the name change and lite renovations will change the clientele's predilection for drug use. As Crobar, it was in fact closed down for pharmaceutical violations, along with a little ultraviolence. Management will likely be extra-careful at least for awhile, so just be discreet when asking the bartender where the club's dealer hangs out.
Sol: Much like the club above, Sol was once shut down after experiencing eight drug related arrests and "numerous assaults." It's since reopened, but caution is likewise advised; the cops have their eye on this place.
Other suggestions or anec-coke-dotes? Say so.
-- Amanda Kludt
Previously: Long Lines in LA, More LA Blow Back, Guide to NYC Ramen, Good Food, Bad Crowd: The Battle Rages On
