GREENWICH VILLAGE — The NYU area is filled with some of the city’s best clubs, bars and music spaces — and plenty of them are open to the under 21 set.
From club-like do-it-yourself (D.I.Y.) venues to $10 theater tickets, DNAinfo.com New York has rounded up a host of venues that welcome the underage crowd with open arms.
D.I.Y. Arts and Music
The rise of Brooklyn’s D.I.Y. arts scene has opened the door to music shows for all ages.
One such D.I.Y. venue is Muchmore’s on Havemeyer and 9th Street — NYU students just need to take a quick trip on the L train to get across to Williamsburg. It’s a seamless combination of coffee shop and nightclub, mixing couches and $3 lattes with a stage and strobe lights. Events happen nightly and include organized debates, live music and poetry readings.
When Muchmore’s opened a year ago, it catered primarily to customers in their mid-20s. Now, it's pushing to expand its audience to all ages.
It extended its hours into the daytime, serving pour-over coffee, sandwiches and pastries. Muchmore’s even has coin laundry machines that locals can use as an alternative to the laundromat.
“With a lot of D.I.Y. venues, the question ‘What is this place?’ comes up,” said Hugh Trimble, a folk guitarist and manager of Muchmore’s. “We want the space to be flexible in order to have as many interesting and creative nights as possible.”
Events Sunday through Wednesday are generally free. Thursday through Saturday, there’s a cover charge that’s usually $7.
Also in the D.I.Y. family, and in Williamsburg, are the music venues 285 Kent Avenue, Death by Audio, and Shea Stadium (not the previous home of the Mets).
285 Kent Avenue is on Kent Avenue between 1st and 2nd streets and the cover charge hovers around $10. It draws many different crowds but tends to have a more rave-like environment. “No matter who's there it's always a party,” said Camellia Hartman, a member of NYU’s class of 2016.
Death by Audio, on 2nd Street between Kent and Wythe Avenue, is a warehouse space that offers live punk and rock music. Show times can be found on Death by Audio’s website and are usually in the $7 to $10 range.
Shea Stadium, which also specializes in punk rock and rock, opened its doors in 2009, right when the ballpark itself was being torn down. Admission is usually between $8 and $10.
Culture At a Discount
Student discounts are alive and well in New York’s culture scene. Talk to upperclassmen and they recommend making use of student prices. “I wish I’d used my student ID and NYU’s ticket central more when I was an underclassman,” said Daniel Hinton, a class of 2014 politics and sociology major. Here are some discounted nighttime performance options.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) offers performances in theater, dance, opera and various other forms of music. A 20-minute ride on the B, D, or N train lands students in the best cultural venue in Fort Greene (and arguably in Brooklyn). Student rush tickets are $10 for live performances and $9 for films.
Tuesdays, movies are $7 for students at Village East Cinema on 12th Street and 2nd Avenue. Included is a free bag of popcorn with unlimited refills.
Shakespeare in the Square is a company that puts on Shakespearean plays for free in Washington Square Park. They perform sporadically, so visit their website for upcoming shows. The next performance will be “Hamlet” on Saturday Oct. 26 and Sunday Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. both days.
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater was founded in 1999 by star comedians Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts. It presents several comedy shows a night that are typically $10 apiece and $5 for the midnight shows. The company has two theaters, one in the East Village on 3rd Street and Avenue A and the other in Chelsea on 26th Street between 8th and 9th avenues.
The Public Theater, the company behind Shakespeare in the Park, presents plays every night indoors at 425 Lafayette St. — a couple blocks east of Washington Square Park. Student tickets can be purchased in advance for $25. Rush tickets, available starting an hour before the show, are $20.
The Public is also home to Joe’s Pub, a nightclub setting that hosts musical performers in every genre from jazz to Broadway to country to indie. Artists that have performed at Joe’s include Norah Jones, Jason Mraz, Anne Hathaway, Amy Winehouse, Prince, Lady Antebellum, Sinead O’Connor, Lady Gaga, and Adele. Tickets are required. Rush tickets are $20 and student tickets are $25. There’s a $12 food/beverage minimum.
MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre presents all new plays. “It’s a great chance to see up-and-coming plays,” said Tyler Gabbard, an NYU class of 2013 theater major. “The theater has a more intimate feel than most, which I love.”
$20 student rush tickets are available 20 minutes before each show. This season features James Ransome of “The Wire” and Keegan Allen of “Pretty Little Liars” in “Small Engine Repair.” Later in the season, Maggie Gyllenhaal will star in the 2011 play “The Village Bike.” The theater is in the West Village on Christopher Street between Hudson and Bleeker streets — a quick walk from Greenwich Village for NYU students.
For more information on places that offer student discounts for everything from museums to Broadway musicals, visit StudentRush.org.
For more stories, visit DNAinfo's NYU Student's Back-To-School page.
