Greenhouse Open For Eco-Conscious Clubgoers

Chocolate dessert. (Katie Sokoler/Gothamist)

NEXT »

« PREVIOUS

This is Greenhouse, a new 6,000 square foot, bi-level club that opened last week in Soho in the former Club Shelter space. As the name suggests, they're working the eco-friendly angle here with (deep breath) high-efficiency heating, an LED lighting system, fabrics made from recycled materials, bamboo floor and wall coverings, and furniture made with FSC wood. Owner Jon Bakhshi, who is applying for
LEED certification, tells the Times he spent at least 33 percent more on Greenhouse than he would have on a "non-eco friendly" (anti-eco?) club.

Last night Thrillist hosted their third anniversary party at the club. The bash began down in the low-ceiling downstairs space, which is covered with myriad fake leaves glued to chicken wire and feels like a fire trap. Rotating laser lights incessantly flashed changing geometric patterns on the crowd, while additional spotlights swirled around the room, blinding everyone several times a minute. The effect is a nightmarish mix between a Farmingdale Bar Mitzvah and a lazer tag zone installed in some rich kid's basement. To complete the scene, the DJ played that "One More Time" song, as if trying to pick a fight.

Upstairs was also packed with like-minded freeloaders soaking up the open bar, a woman with a python, a costumed stilt dancer, a mariachi band, and the mesmerizing card tricks of Mark Mitton. The high ceiling is covered with over 5,000 individually hung crystals, and the effect is pretty striking; if you climb up to the balcony, you can have a pleasant acid flashback watching the pretty colored lights shimmer through them. As for the eco-friendly angle, Down By the Hipster muses, "The fake ivy outside has us pretty skeptical."