In 2014, Michael Musto, writing for Paper, ranked the venue second on his list of "the 30 best gay bars in Manhattan". ShermansTravel places Industry among "the best gay and queer bars in Manhattan", calling it "industrial-chic" and identifying it as the most spacious gay bar in Hell's Kitchen.
In his 2015 compilation of "the best gay bars in Hell's Kitchen", Ethan LaCroix of Time Out New York described Industry as a "sultry midtown drinkery". Vice News staff included Industry on a 2016 list of New York City's "hottest gay nightlife spots", and Jeffrey James Keyes of Metrosource labeled it one of the city's top 50 gay bars in 2018. Ga圜 calls it "a true Hell's Kitchen nightlife landmark", while The Guardian notes it as "one of the most popular and successful bars in the area". The club ranked 17th on Time Out New York 's 2022 list of "the 24 best gay bars in NYC". New York magazine rates Industry 68 out of 100, indicating "not terrible".
we have no intention of closing." Since reopening at full indoor capacity in May 2021, the club has required proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for entry. In July 2020, Pontarelli stated to journalist Michael Musto that "Industry has a difficult landlord. Like all New York City nightlife venues, Industry was ordered to cease operation for several months in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bob the Drag Queen had a show at the bar prior to appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race. As of the same year, Industry's other weekly drag shows were hosted by performers including Sherry Vine, Tina Burner, Kizha Carr, Monét X Change and Phi Phi O'Hara. "Queen" is still running, and as of 2018, its rotating cast of drag queens included Chelsea Piers and Pattaya Hart. In Industry's early days, Peppermint and Dallas DuBois hosted a weekly themed drag show called "Queen" there. After establishing Elmo, a restaurant, the pair opened Industry in December 2010, in a 4,000-square-foot space previously used as a parking garage. Their second establishment, a gay dive bar called Barracuda, opened in Chelsea in 1995. The stage area at Industry during a drag show in 2019īusiness partners Bob Pontarelli and Stephen Heighton began operating New York City nightlife venues in 1991, when they opened the now-defunct Crobar in Manhattan's East Village. A piece in New York magazine stated: "Excellent DJs spin genre-spanning pop mash-ups of Erasure and Ke$ha, DJ Earworm mastermixes, and hits from Cher to Kanye to Cher to Robyn to Cher." History Tim Murphy of The New York Times characterized the bar's musical selection as "relentlessly gay-pop", listing Madonna, Beyoncé, Rihanna and Lady Gaga as playlist staples. Saturdays are the right night to be here-it's a great, energetic crowd with very high odds of meeting someone new." they have both disco balls and paper lanterns, you're not understanding the true appeal of Industry Bar. The club's listing in The Infatuation reads: "If you find yourself asking why. In a 2015 Time Out New York piece, Ethan LaCroix wrote: "Industry is a sprawling, high-ceilinged space, featuring a long concrete bar (manned by hunky, often shirtless bartenders)." New York magazine describes the establishment as "a welcome blend of the three types of gay bars you've come to expect in Manhattan: the tight-shirt lounge, the tank-top megaclub, and the casual-plaid cruising spot".
The club caters primarily to gay men in their 20s to 40s, and it is known to attract a large tourist crowd. The stage, located in the rear, is used predominantly for drag shows. The venue's interior features theatre lights, leather couches, oriental rugs, a rococo billiards table, "1970s-era black globe lamps", disco balls and a wooden bar. Industry's design is based loosely on that of Berghain, a famous nightclub in Berlin, and its layout is "a little bit like a fort, with walls all around and pockets that break loose and allow for an easy flow". It is situated directly across the street from Therapy, another gay bar. Industry occupies the ground-floor space of a Bauhaus-style office building on West 52nd Street in Hell's Kitchen. Plexiglass at the bar and tables on the dance floor were introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bar area (top) and seating area (bottom) in 2020.