Latin Quarter (nightclub)
Encyclopedia
Latin Quarter is a nightclub in New York City.
The Club which originally opened in 1942 featured big name acts. In recent years it has been a focus of hip hop
, reggaeton
, and salsa music
.
Its history is similar to that of its competitor the Copacabana
.
opened the club in 1942 at 1580 Broadway at 47th Street in a landmark three-story wedge shaped building that marked the north end of Times Square
and was famed for the signs on the building's south side where Broadway and Seventh Avenue cross. Its most famous sign was the neon Coca-Cola
sign.
Prior to Walters, the building was home to the Palais Royale
with the Moulin Rouge
in the basement in the 1920s. Norman Bel Geddes
had designed the interior. Following this it was occupied by the Cotton Club
after it left Harlem
from 1936 to 1940.
Walters opened branches of the nightclub in other cities and was to sell the Boston
club to Michael Redstone, father of Sumner Redstone
.
During Walters tenure the Club featured big name acts like Frank Sinatra
, Ella Fitzgerald
, The Carter Family, Sophie Tucker
, Mae West
, Diahann Carroll, Milton Berle
, The Andrews Sisters
, Frankie Laine
, and Ted Lewis
along with chorus girls and concluded with a can can dance.
Walters left the business in the 1950s. Earl Wilson
described the club under its new management in 1964 as "more expensive" than the Copacabana - "but then the show's a bit bigger, nakeder and longer."
In 1969, during a strike by the chorus girls, the club was padlocked for not paying rent.
opening with the film Camille 2000
(1969). On July 25, 1973, Cine Lido along with 10 other New York "art houses" were raided and a copy of The Newcomers was confiscated. Cine Lido closed in May 1978 and it was replaced by the 22 Steps disco (named for the number of steps to the theatre).
, and Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth
.
From 1980 to 1984 it was renamed the Princess Theater with performances of Censored Scenes from King Kong, Fearless Frank, The Beautiful Mariposa, Sort of an Adventure, Louie and the Elephant, This Was Burlesque, Pump Boys and Dinettes
, and The Babe.
From 1984 to 1985 it was re-named Latin Quarter with performances of André DeShield's Harlem Nocturne and Mayor
.
. Boogie Down Productions
referenced the club in their 1987 song "Super Ho". Ice-T
also referenced the club in his songs 6 in the Mornin'
(1987) and "Heartbeat" (1988). In 1987, three patrons were shot as they left the club after a performance by Roxanne Shante
.
Later, the club was renamed the Penguin Club and became infamous for stabbings and fights.
The building was eventually torn down in 1989 and replaced by a 22-story Ramada Renaissance Hotel. 48th Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue is now named "Lou Walters Way." The club opened again in the Upper West Side, at 2551 Broadway at 96th Street (40.794643°N 73.972208°W).
In 2003, Producer Ralph Mercado
(who had founded RMM Records & Video
) reopened the club at 511 Lexington at 48th Street in the Radisson Lexington Hotel on the East Side. Although still known as the Latin Quarter, signage at the club referred to it as "LQ." In December 2004, a fight at the club during a Ja Rule
holiday party, spilled onto the street where one man was fatally shot and another wounded in a dispute that reportedly involved associates of The Inc. Records
On November 29, 2008, former New York Giants
& Pittsburgh Steelers
football player Plaxico Burress
accidentally shot himself in the right leg while he was standing in an elevator vestibule, between the VIP room and the coat check. Burress pled guilty to charges and received a 2 year prison sentence. These recent events led to a Manhattan Community Board 6
recommending that the club's liquor license not be renewed.
The Club which originally opened in 1942 featured big name acts. In recent years it has been a focus of hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
, and salsa music
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
.
Its history is similar to that of its competitor the Copacabana
Copacabana (nightclub)
The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...
.
Times Square location
Abraham Walters, father of Barbara WaltersBarbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
opened the club in 1942 at 1580 Broadway at 47th Street in a landmark three-story wedge shaped building that marked the north end of Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
and was famed for the signs on the building's south side where Broadway and Seventh Avenue cross. Its most famous sign was the neon Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
sign.
Prior to Walters, the building was home to the Palais Royale
Palais Royale
Palais Royale is a dance hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Shore Boulevard at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue on Lake Ontario. Originally built as a boat works, it became notable as a night club in the now-defunct Sunnyside Amusement Park, hosting many prominent 'big band' jazz bands...
with the Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...
in the basement in the 1920s. Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....
had designed the interior. Following this it was occupied by the Cotton Club
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...
after it left Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
from 1936 to 1940.
Walters opened branches of the nightclub in other cities and was to sell the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
club to Michael Redstone, father of Sumner Redstone
Sumner Redstone
Sumner Murray Redstone is an American media magnate. He is the majority owner and Chairman of the Board of the National Amusements theater chain...
.
During Walters tenure the Club featured big name acts like Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, The Carter Family, Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
, Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
, Diahann Carroll, Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
, The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, and Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
along with chorus girls and concluded with a can can dance.
Walters left the business in the 1950s. Earl Wilson
Earl Wilson (columnist)
Earl Wilson , born Harvey Earl Wilson, was an American journalist, gossip columnist and author, perhaps best known for his nationally syndicated column, It Happened Last Night....
described the club under its new management in 1964 as "more expensive" than the Copacabana - "but then the show's a bit bigger, nakeder and longer."
In 1969, during a strike by the chorus girls, the club was padlocked for not paying rent.
Cine Lido
From 1969 to 1978 the upstairs room was a 575 seat Cine Lido that initially started showing upscale soft pornographyPornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
opening with the film Camille 2000
Camille 2000
Camille 2000 is a 1969 Italian language film based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. It was adapted by Michael DeForrest and directed by Radley Metzger. It stars Danièle Gaubert and Nino Castelnuovo with Eleonora Rossi Drago and Massimo Serato. The film...
(1969). On July 25, 1973, Cine Lido along with 10 other New York "art houses" were raided and a copy of The Newcomers was confiscated. Cine Lido closed in May 1978 and it was replaced by the 22 Steps disco (named for the number of steps to the theatre).
Broadway theatre
In 1979 it opened as a Broadway theater called 22 Steps with performances of Coquelico, My Old Friends, The Madwoman of Central Park WestThe Madwoman of Central Park West
The Madwoman of Central Park West is a semi-autobiographical one-woman musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and Phyllis Newman and songs by various composers and lyricists...
, and Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth
Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth
Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth are two plays by Tom Stoppard, written to be performed together. This was not the first time that Stoppard had made use of Shakespearian texts in his own plays or even the first time he had used Hamlet although the context is far different from that of his earlier...
.
From 1980 to 1984 it was renamed the Princess Theater with performances of Censored Scenes from King Kong, Fearless Frank, The Beautiful Mariposa, Sort of an Adventure, Louie and the Elephant, This Was Burlesque, Pump Boys and Dinettes
Pump Boys and Dinettes
Pump Boys and Dinettes is a musical written by a performance group of the same name. The performance group, "Pump Boys and Dinettes" consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann...
, and The Babe.
From 1984 to 1985 it was re-named Latin Quarter with performances of André DeShield's Harlem Nocturne and Mayor
Mayor (musical)
Mayor is a musical with a book by Warren Leight and music and lyrics by Charles Strouse. It is based on the best-selling memoir by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and depicts a single day in the life of the city's leader....
.
Nightclub again
After 1985 it opened again as a nightclub of the same name and focused on hip hop musicHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. Boogie Down Productions
Boogie Down Productions
Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
referenced the club in their 1987 song "Super Ho". Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
also referenced the club in his songs 6 in the Mornin'
6 in the Mornin'
"6 in the Mornin'" is a song by Ice-T. Released in 1986 as the B-side of "Dog 'N the Wax ", the song is considered to be one of the defining tracks of the gangsta rap genre. The song appeared on Ice T's debut album, Rhyme Pays , in 1987...
(1987) and "Heartbeat" (1988). In 1987, three patrons were shot as they left the club after a performance by Roxanne Shante
Roxanne Shanté
Roxanne Shanté is an American hip-hop pioneer. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects, Shanté first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and her association with the Juice Crew....
.
Later, the club was renamed the Penguin Club and became infamous for stabbings and fights.
The building was eventually torn down in 1989 and replaced by a 22-story Ramada Renaissance Hotel. 48th Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue is now named "Lou Walters Way." The club opened again in the Upper West Side, at 2551 Broadway at 96th Street (40.794643°N 73.972208°W).
In 2003, Producer Ralph Mercado
Ralph Mercado
Ralph Mercado Jr. was a promoter of Latin American music — Latin Jazz, Latin rock, merengue and salsa — who established a network of businesses that included promoting concerts, managing artists, Radio Mundo Musical a record label the most important in the Latin industry during 1980-1990, film...
(who had founded RMM Records & Video
RMM Records & Video
RMM Records, also known as RMM Records & Video Corp, was an independent Latin music record label based in New York City, The record label was formed originally as RMM Management by one of Fania Records promoter Ralph Mercado, but in 1987 it started operating as a record label, with Angelito...
) reopened the club at 511 Lexington at 48th Street in the Radisson Lexington Hotel on the East Side. Although still known as the Latin Quarter, signage at the club referred to it as "LQ." In December 2004, a fight at the club during a Ja Rule
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
holiday party, spilled onto the street where one man was fatally shot and another wounded in a dispute that reportedly involved associates of The Inc. Records
The Inc. Records
The Inc. Records , is an American record label, owned by Irv Gotti.In 1999, Murder Inc. released its first album, Venni Vetti Vecci by Ja Rule. The album featured the hit single "Holla Holla". The album was executively produced by Irv Gotti and moved on to go platinum, which rose Ja Rule and...
On November 29, 2008, former New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
& Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
football player Plaxico Burress
Plaxico Burress
Plaxico Antonio Burress is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers eighth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft...
accidentally shot himself in the right leg while he was standing in an elevator vestibule, between the VIP room and the coat check. Burress pled guilty to charges and received a 2 year prison sentence. These recent events led to a Manhattan Community Board 6
Manhattan Community Board 6
Manhattan Community Board 6 is a local government unit of New York City, New York, United States. Its area of responsibility encompasses the East Side of Manhattan from 14th Street to 59th Street. This includes the neighborhoods of Gramercy Park, Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, Waterside...
recommending that the club's liquor license not be renewed.
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