Save the Robots

Save the Robots was an underground after hours club in New York City's East Village neighborhood. "Robots," as the venue was popularly known, operated quasi-legally from a nondescript storefront and basement at 25 Avenue B, between East 2nd and 3rd Streets, from 1983 until mid-1984, when the club was shut down for fire safety violations. After undergoing safety-related renovations and obtaining a social club license, the venue reopened in early January 1986 . "Robots" was frequented by drag performers, musicians, club kids, employees of other bars and clubs, skinheads and other denizens of downtown New York nightlife, including Dean Johnson and Lady Bunny.^[1] Save the Robots was known for its late hours of operation and sold only vodka, soda and juice. Patrons typically arrived after 4 a.m. and partied until the 8 a.m. closing time, often with the aid of recreational drugs. At one point, talk show host Craig Ferguson was a bouncer.^[2][3][4] The year 1993 marked the last days of 'Robots' before its imminent closure. The space was subsequently leased to other operators, who transformed it into a fully licensed dance club, and endeavored to capitalize on the Save the Robots name, without consent from the original owners—and with few vestiges of the original clientele or atmosphere.^[5]

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