Opening Alert: Hunkering Down In The Bunker Below 9th Ave

While his former partners celebrated the launching of Don Hill's, former Beatrice owner Matt Abramcyk's new nightlife space below Dos Caminos MePa chose to make a brief appearance as Fashion Week came to a close, playing host to a party for the Last Magazine. If you recall, the vault space is a former foundry 40 feet beneath 9th Avenue that was discovered by the buildings owner (Ari Ellis of Ara wine bar) after a construction accident. Ellis and Abramcyk teamed up and have created the Bunker, a gorgeous and large 4,000 square foot party room that looks like its going to be a big winner when it formally opens later this fall.

The Bunker's main entrance is a stair case on 9th Avenue to the South of Dos Caminos. Guests descend into the middle of the room, so that everyone looking in that direction can see who has arrived. To the left of that stairs is the main bar (a vintage wood and metal number) and lounge area that is flanked with a row of couches and a few chairs for casual discussions of topics of the day. Think the front room at the Beatrice Inn, just with louder music.

To the right of the entry and up a few stairs is the dance floor, which is extremely large and where the Bunker will make it happen. The dance floor itself is made up of alternating black and white linoleum tiles and is surrounded on three sides by couches, exactly the way you would want to build a dance floor if you were undertaking this sort of venture. Bonus feature: it has at least three disco balls! The DJ booth is at the edge of the dance floor area, floating in the middle of the room, which may not be the best place for it. But the Bunker will benefit from being a large and relatively column free rectangle space that guests can see from one end to the other.

The Bunker's first event was Tuesday night for a Rodarte party, and the Last Magazine party last night was an absolute mob scene. By the time we left, there was a crowd of at least 100 attempting to get inside an already packed room. An insider told us that the Bunker will be putting the finishing touches on the space over the next few weeks and open to the public sometime in early to mid October.
· Matt Abramcyk Invades MePa With Subterranean Lounge [~ENY~]
· Nightlife Coverage [~ENY~]