Who the hell wants to go to work on Saturday? Not me, but apparently lots of guys do. Especially men with bulging muscles, big baskets and hard bodies who like to show off their lucky charms in skimpy wife-beaters or without shirts on at all. This wasn’t in the office, it was at Santos Party House for WORK!, a floating monthly gay dance party.

“Excuse me, can I get by?” I begged one hulking, half-naked brute with an oversized bandanna hanging from his belt, vainly trying to navigate through the sea of men dancing to the throbbing beat. “What?” He couldn’t hear me, but I smiled girlishly and pushed my way through the damp flesh. The party was like one giant sweat lodge filled with macho dudes dancing to tribal house; I saw maybe 10 women tops that night. The DJ, Peter Rauhofer, plays lots of gay circuit parties and won a Grammy, remixing and producing for Madonna, Whitney, Britney and even Yoko. He DJed at the Roxy and then weekly at Stereo until that club lost its lease last year.

“WORK! is my favorite party,” nightlife promoter King Ralphy told me. Was he really a King? I dunno, but he often wears a baseball cap, and he’s Napoleonic in stature. Ralphy’s the promoter, a smoldering-eyed kid from Sheepshead Bay who’s only been in nightlife for the past year, starting out as a shot boy. Already, he’s entrenched in the gay nightclub world—his resume includes parties at Rush, HK, Porky's, Retreat, Splash and, most recently, Pacha.  
Even though the guys looked rough, there was love on that dance floor. The following missive was posted on Craigslist the next morning: “You—Latino with shaved head and black T-shirt/shirtless. You were dancing near me and we kept looking at each other. I'm Latin with tattoos. Really wanted to say hi but you were with friends.”

Could be fun, but you know what they say about dating people at work. — Gerry Visco