Tunnel was one of the largest New York City nightclubs during the 90's, with multiple rooms on several levels. Legendary is a understatement....
Tunnel was a largest New York City nightclub during the 90's, with multiple rooms on several levels. It received its name from the fact that the main dancefloor was a renovated train tunnel from the early 1900s, a its capacity was around 5000. It was located at 220 12th Avenue at West 27th Street in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. It was one of the most unique danceclubs of its time, untradition
ally rectangular and elongated. The dance floor was dotted with several dance cages throughout the floor, and had a notoriously loud sound system. One clever Tunnel bartender recommended improvised earplugs, made out of molten candle wax dripped into a glass of tap water. The decor throughout the club was ever-changing; one room was decorated by artist Kenny Scharf, called the Kenny Scharf Lava Lounge, others were decorated as Victorian libraries, S & M dungeons, and chill-out lounges. It was perhaps best known for hosting Junior Vasquez,Danny Tenaglia and Eddie Baez after the close of the original Sound Factory in the mid-1990s. It later hosted Kurfew, a trance-techno oriented Saturday night party catering to a younger gay crowd. It also attracted many members of the hip-hop community, often hosting parties in separate rooms throughout the course of the week. One distinct advantage to the multiple rooms of the club was the ability to host many different types of parties with several, sometimes five or more, different DJs spinning various styles of music, to quite varying crowds. The Tunnel also featured co-ed bathrooms (although the stalls did have partitions). It was said that the bathrooms were the partially-converted locker rooms of the old train workers from decades prior. The Tunnel was often packed way beyond its legal capacity, which resulted in dangerous overcrowding. This led to people literally pushing their way past each other to get to the bathrooms and bars. During large shows, it was not uncommon for someone standing on the main floor to be packed tight against the crowd around him; sometimes being lifted completely off the floor. Tunnel closed its doors soon after the demise of nearby Twilo, the victim of the owner's debts and of Rudy Giuliani's quality-of-life campaign. Even though the venue it self is no longer called the Tunnel, or used to host club nights. The memories and lifestyle of that decade will live forever within our hearts, minds & musical styles. Simply put... Long Live Tunnel...No Matter What! ...... .... ......
