The Real Monkey Bar

There are plenty of animals associated with gay nightlife. Bears, who would go to the Dugout, otters, known to flock to Metropolitan, and chickens, constantly clucking at Rush. Beginning in May, nightlife promoter Josh Wood, known for numerous parties, including Bootleg at (le) poisson rouge, will welcome a whole new breed to the former Knitting Factory space on Leonard Street with the latest beast to hit town, Gorilla Club.

Inspired by the phenomenon of pop-up shops—temporary fashion boutiques that have been in the vogue for several years—Wood will open his club for a short, three-month run in the Tribeca space, hosting weekend parties and other gay-themed events including a concert sponsored by BUTT magazine. Wood attributes the ideas to, "my own limited attention span," and says he has always wanted to do a short run club night because it gives an exclusive, limited-edition feeling.

The idea came about when Wood got a call from the building's lease-holder—the club is moving to Williamsburg—who gave the OK to use the space until the lease runs out at the end of July.

The name Gorilla Club is inspired by guerilla flash mob groups such as Critical Mass, International Pillowfight Day and Guerilla Queer Bar (an association that organizes large groups of gays and lesbians who descend on typically straight bars for one evening), and the club will feature two weekly parties: a still-unnamed "sexy lesbian cabaret" night on Fridays ("The Box for dykes," says Wood) run by Maggie Collier who ran popular glamour-lez parties Eden at Bar 13 and Stiletto at Ultra Lounge, and Big Banana, a sleazy gay bash featuring sexy go-go boys and run by party promoter Jonny McGovern.

Wood told the Press he’s excited about the location, citing the "off the beaten" path neighborhood as another interesting element to add to the mix since most of his parties are found north of Canal Street and there are no popular gay bars in Tribeca. And as far as the problems that the Knitting Factory had—like noise complaints from millionaire neighbors—Wood isn’t breaking a sweat.

"Neither the [Knitting Factory] security people nor the lease-holder are worried. It was mostly the mobs of screaming—mostly straight—people leaving punk concerts. The most that we'll be seeing on these nights is the occasional 4 a.m. yell of, 'Queen, please!' Nothing to worry about."