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Door policies at the hottest clubs in New York City have always been a source of fascination—whether it was the notorious door at Studio 54, which prioritized freaks and celebrities, or the current door policy at Basement, which requires you to know the name of the obscure techno DJs spinning that night, there’s something exhilarating about not knowing whether you have the chops to get in.
A new club on the Bowery, Cosmo, is bringing that exclusivity to another level: You have to establish a personal relationship with so called "team members" of the club, after which they'll determine if your reservation will be accepted or not.
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But first, is this club even worth the fuzz (and existential agony) of a potential rejection? I went to Cosmo's grand opening last night to find out.
Cosmo is located at 203 Bowery and is sandwiched between The Ainslie and an uncharacteristically campy real estate office. It would be easy to miss if not for the bouncer standing outside its discrete doors, which open up to a staircase that lead down to the basement level.
Once inside, I was instantly self-conscious: I arrived straight from work and everyone around me were wearing suits and dresses, while I was wearing an obscure vintage soccer tee, definitely not painting me as a “high-value” individual. I ordered a cosmo, the bar’s signature drink, and was sipping on it awkwardly when an older French man came to shake my hand excitedly and asked if I knew what the hell I was wearing. He explained that my jersey was a collector’s item in France and that his dad had owned the exact same shirt, which was France’s national soccer jersey from 1982. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so self-conscious.
Cosmo, dimly lit under a red glow, was developed in collaboration with the Paris Society Consulting, which is a branch of the hospitality brand Paris Society, meant to bring New Yorkers a taste of Parisian nightlife. The Paris Society is behind some of the most notorious clubs in the French capital, including Bridge, a venue tucked under the Pont Alexandre III bridge and Mirage, a private, members-only club on the Champs-Élysées. Cosmo is the group’s first project in Manhattan, and they’re aiming to bring high curatorial vibes to the gritty Lower East Side.
But what does it take to get in, exactly? From what I gathered, you have to have a certain je ne sais quoi, whatever that means, or be a "high value" person, which I assume means you're either really hot or have a prestigious job. When you make a reservation online, you have to share your contact information, which is sent to a team member that will establish a relationship with you and decide if they will finalize the booking. I wasn't told more details about what they're looking for beyond that. You can also show up in person, but there's likely to be a line, and priority will be given to those with "a diva persona," per the club's social media manager. If all of that sounds vague, at the very least I understood that confidence is key.
The space itself was much larger than I thought, and red curtains mark the entrance to its different sections. I was most surprised by the size of the dance floor, which could comfortably fit several dozen partygoers, and the spectacular DJ booth, which was backlit by floodlights in the shape of honeycombs. They will mostly play house music, although they're not confined to one single genre, and I Shazam'ed a track called "Mega Funk Lost 2" by Adeton, so if you like that type of music, you'll like what they play there. There are plenty of private sections with red velvet booths on the peripheries of the dance floor, the biggest one being the section to the right of the DJ. Oh, and the cocktail and mocktail selection is fab.
If you get in, it’s the type of place that could get stuffy, especially if you gravitate towards spaces that leave room for spontaneity and chaos, although to be fair, I did leave very early and I’m sure it picked up later—I’d have to go back on a weekend night. For now, Cosmo will be open Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of December, and then Thursdays through Saturdays starting in 2025.