(Photo: Hannah Mattix
for NY Mag)
Q: When does Ridgewood’s best backyard hangspot open?
A: Nowadays!
Yep, that’s right: The al fresco dancin’-n’drinkin’ destination, Nowadays, reopens Thursday, May 11. According to co-owner Justin Carter, that’ll “hopefully mean, since the indoors should open this summer, that tomorrow we open for good!” You’ll recall that Carter and his partner Eamon Harkin, with the help of over $100,000 in crowdfunding, are building an indoor dance floor with killer sound system, which will allow the seasonal venue to go year-round.
In the meantime, the sprawling outdoor portion returns with Harkin and Carter’s legendary parties, Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday. Also on tap this season are Saturday cookouts with East Williamsburg barbecue spot Arrogant Swine, and Friday and Saturday listening sessions with vinyl selectors like Lloydski of Tiki Disco. But the real treat, this year: Starting in July, Greenwich Village avant-garde venue Le Poisson Rouge will be in the house (or, on the lawn) for a live music series.
Carter tells us the LPR series is still in the booking phase, so no names to announce just yet. Meanwhile, the Wednesday film series, programmed by Harlem’s Maysles Cinema, starts June 7, and will include two docs by the Maysles Brothers themselves: the Stones classic Gimme Shelter and What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA. There’ll also be a 35mm screening of St. Clair Bourne’s fascinating behind-the-scenes doc, Making “Do the Right Thing.” [Update: Here’s the lineup.]
Then again, you may want to get over there when there’s nothing at all going on: There’s a 2-for-1 happy hour, weekdays from 4pm to 7pm.