I never stepped foot in the Limelight while the Chelsea nightclub was in operation. I don't know. Drugs and dismemberment just aren't my scene. But the other day I was passing by the former church and noticed it was playing host to a sample sale that was open to the public. So I sauntered in to take a look at the interior.
Not much to see at this point, of course. But in the entranceway was a plaque from the building's holier days. "This porch," it read, "erected by his wife in loving memory commemorates the life and the service of Thomas Sears Young, a trustee of this church from 1897 to 1909. 'One day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.'"
Think old man Young, who was a director of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, was spinning in his grave all those years when club master Peter Gatien was having his way? Think Michael Alig ever gave this plaque a glance and wondered "How am I living my life?"?
The Limelight hosted various parties and events following its club heyday. It was a cool space. And now it's slated to be the world's largest Denny's. How things change.
ReplyDeleteI did the Limelight, once. About a year or two after I moved up here from my sheltered NC world. I was totally scandalized by the open drug use, and never went back.
ReplyDeleteNow, though I chuckle at my naivete whenever I see it, I'm actually kind of worried about the building itself, hoping that someone eventually does something worthwhile with it.
Denny's! I had no idea. Denny's in the Limelight and Arby's in Gage & Tollner. What next? Burger King in the Williamsburg Bank Building?
ReplyDelete@Robert: Wait. Are you serious about it becoming a Denny's?
ReplyDeleteCheck the date...but it's entirely plausible.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha. Nice. And I walked right into it. :-)
ReplyDelete(I was kinda digging the idea of finally having a Denny's in town. Don't shoot me.)