Club Musica, a new dance hall in Hell’s Kitchen on West 50th and the West Side Highway, has delayed its opening following the recent surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.
A part of the continued commercial expansion of Hell’s Kitchen’s west side, the new project from hospitality giant Cipriani was originally slated for a New Year’s Eve grand opening party featuring artists Nic Fanciulli and Kerri Chandler.
Cipriani — famous for bringing its elevated European sensibility to New York outposts such as Cipriani Downtown and Cipriani 25 Broadway — had been planning the club’s opening since late 2019. Musica’s Instagram account teased it for months, posting promises to New York that “The Beat is Coming”.
But in light of the dramatic local uptick in positive COVID-19 cases over recent weeks, Musica organizers canceled the New Year’s opening event, stating:
“Out of respect to the encouragement of the city of New York and for the safety of all our fellow New Yorkers and visitors from around the world, we unfortunately must cancel our New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebration and move our opening to January 15th, 2022. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Musica is moving into the 20,000 square-foot building last occupied by Space Ibiza, a megaclub that opened in 2014 in over-the-top, Fashion Week-style with a party celebrating designer Jeremy Scott and attended by household names Skrillex, Diplo, and Madonna. It closed in 2017, and the club’s signature mural by acclaimed Spanish outdoor artist Belin has since been painted over with the Musica logo — a nod to Italian sister club, Musica Riccione (also produced by Cipriani).
Cipriani’s current Hell’s Kitchen ventures expand beyond clubs to include Harry’s Table, a proposed market-style eatery in development at Waterline Square. Housed inside the new luxury condominium complex, Harry’s Table is a tribute to the first Cipriani bar, which opened in 1931. Harry’s will feature a butcher’s counter, gelato, pastry, and coffee shop, a pizza bar, pasta lab, and fish counter, as well as concierge room service and “house accounts” for Waterline Square residents.
Originally set to open in September 2021, the restaurant has yet to begin trading or to update a proposed date of service. Both Harry’s Table and Musica NYC could bring vital foot traffic and additional business to the neighborhood, should they be able to open in 2022.
Musica will join other new nightclubs in the area including the 11,000 square foot Nebula that opened in Times Square in November and Q Club — a new addition to the gay club scene on 8th Avenue.
I’m not much of a club goer anymore, but I will definitely miss that amazing mural. It was one of my favorite public artworks in the city.