Mars

Overview

Multi-floor Meatpacking warehouse opened 1988 by programmer Yuki Watanabe, stacking house, hip-hop, reggae, and new wave across five levels, RuPaul worked the door, Moby got his first DJ slot in the basement, and Run-DMC and A Tribe Called Quest performed, before it closed around 1991.

Mars occupied a large former warehouse at 28–30 Tenth Avenue near 14th Street in the Meatpacking District, opening in 1988. The club was programmed by Yuki Watanabe, who designed a deliberately fragmented sound landscape: five floors, each with a different genre and vibe. The ground floor ran house music alongside performances by trans and drag entertainers; the second floor was hip-hop; the third ran reggae and African music; the roof deck played soul; the basement (the smallest and most subterranean space) held new wave and industrial. The Tuesday night 'Trip' party, hosted by DJ Duke of Denmark and MC Kay Gee, became the club's signature weekly. Among those who passed through or worked there: RuPaul worked the door in the early period; Moby was given his first DJ job in the basement; regular performers included Run-DMC, A Tribe Called Quest, Ultramagnetic MCs, 3rd Bass, Big Daddy Kane, and the Jungle Brothers. Habitués later described Mars as 'the last true melting pot nightclub in New York', a room where the downtown crossover of hip-hop, house, and club culture coexisted before genre segregation and gentrification separated the tribes. The exact closing date is disputed across recollections, with estimates ranging from 1990 to 1992.

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