Nightlife: New York state of mind

Is this space cursed? That's the question I asked the guys behind Club New York, which opened two weeks ago in the basement of the Lumber Exchange Building.

The spot, near the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis, has seen three clubs close in just as many years. First came Level in 2006, then Foundation and finally Element, which shut down earlier this year.

Club New York, which will focus heavily on hip-hop, is convinced the problem is not the space. But only time will tell. One thing's for sure: Its owner, Mike Whitelaw, has outlasted many of his peers in the scene. His company, Fun Group Inc., runs Spin, Drink, Zeno Cafe and Manhattans (he must really like the Big Apple).

The company is notorious for its hard-edged competitiveness. With Spin located in the same building, taking over the space made sense, said Fun Group overseer Dan DiNovis; now the company will only be competing against itself.

The formula is quite simple. Club New York is all about hip-hop, a genre that's been good to these guys. Spin runs a hip-hop night on Fridays and Sundays under the "Cream" brand. Club New York will be the yin to Cream's yang, operating on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Its name (not exactly the most original) suggests a club striving for something beyond our humble Midwestern tastes. DiNovis describes it as "upscale underground." While the remodel isn't mind-blowing, it did enhance the club's layout. Being that this is the basement of the historic Lumber Exchange, the iron pillars and exposed stone walls really do give it an underground feel. The beautiful rock is bathed in LED lighting, and VIP booths surround the dance floor.

The economy might be in the dumps, but bottle service is still going strong in hip-hop clubs, DiNovis said. Yep, people are still crazy enough to pay $300 for a bottle of Grey Goose just to get a prime seat to "see and be seen."

To amp up the VIP action, they demolished a bar in the club's second room, which holds more than a dozen booths, some overlooking the dance floor.

Last Saturday was a dreary rain-soaked night, but Club New York was full of people by midnight. The DJ kept it mainstream with the usual assortment of big-bass booty music, plus some older tracks by 2Pac and a slew of syrupy Auto-tune songs by chart-topper Lil Wayne.

If there's one stereotype that hip-hop clubs can't seem to escape, it's the perception -- however unfair -- that they breed the same type of danger heard in the music.

"I don't see that, per se," DiNovis said. "We're really strict at our door. That honestly prevents 90 percent of the problems."

Indeed, entering Club New York sorta reminded me of going through airport security. Clubgoers were asked to empty their pockets into little baskets before proceeding through a metal detector.

So will this place last longer than its predecessors? That remains to be seen. For now, the only curse -- rather, cursing -- can be heard in the music. Hip-hop hooray.

thorgen@startribune.com • 612-673-7909