Nowadays

A courtyard between warehouses that changed the night of Ridgewood

Between trees, communal tables, and an entrance almost like an urban garden, Nowadays converted an industrial lot on the border between Ridgewood and Bushwick into one of the most recognizable references of New York dance culture. The project opened outdoors in 2015 by Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin, names linked to Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday, and was born with an idea uncommon in the city: not to build just a dark room for dancing, but a place where the session, food, conversation, and community could coexist without losing musical rigor.

From sound park to long-distance club

The growth of the venue was consolidated with the opening of its interior space, an adjacent warehouse of about 5,000 square feet that allowed programming throughout the year. That room transformed Nowadays into a hybrid of bar, club, and listening room: by day it can function as a large courtyard and meeting place; by night it focuses on sessions of house, techno, disco, bass, breaks, and club music of black roots and global diaspora. Its relationship with Mister Sunday remains key, but the value of the venue does not depend on a single party: the programming combines residents, international guests, all-night-long formats, and Nonstop marathons that cross the night and Sunday.

A dance floor with its own rules

The dance experience relies on a very defined dance floor policy. Nowadays insists on reducing the use of mobile phones and photographs around the dance floor, on lowering conversation when the music takes center stage, and on sustaining a safe space policy against harassment, discrimination, and invasive behavior. That combination of door, security monitors, free water, available earplugs, and gender-neutral bathrooms has built an atmosphere less spectacular and more attentive to the collective body. In a city where the night usually oscillates between elitism and fast consumption, the club has earned prestige for defending presence, listening, and care as part of the social architecture of the dance floor.

Warm sound, living garden, and current scene

The venue is not understood without its physical contrast: a large-scale landscaped courtyard, with benches, tables, and a seasonal outdoor dance floor, and an interior room designed for detailed listening. The main system is described as a custom analog system, while the listening area incorporates valve amplification and vintage Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater speakers, a reference that connects the space with the tradition of listening bars. Currently, Nowadays remains active with variable programming from Thursday to Sunday, its own restaurant run by The Zumbador, and an agenda that crosses clubbing, local community, and cutting-edge electronics without losing its identity as a physical venue: open, hybrid, demanding, and deeply New York.