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Reviews

WINNER OF A 2003 VILLAGE VOICE OBIE AWARD.

...Reviews from 2008

"Like celebrities considering adoption, New York nightlife is finally growing a conscience, and this Brooklyn performance hall is leading the way. Galapagos Art Space's new, double-the-size venue in DUMBO is seeking certification as New York's first green venue—it's made mostly of recycled steel and concrete. Plans are also in the works for a wall of living flowers and a rooftop garden. Three rows of half-moon red banquettes float above reflecting pools with a bar conveniently close by, while a mezzanine provides an aerial view."
-Shecky's New York Nightlife Guide

"Ah, Williamsburg … 10 years ago a few kooky kids with a dream transformed an old warehouse space into a showcase for indie bands and outré burlesque shows, serving PBR aplenty. They called it Galapagos, and it was good. Today, North Sixth Street, the desolate road they blazed a commercial trail upon, is chockablock with trendy boutiques, and so the artsy ones were priced out of their history-making space. So, with pluck and might, they headed south to DUMBO where ... the New Galapagos Art Space has partnered with the nearby BAM, and promise to keep it artsy and real."
-NY Post

New York City's Go Magazine ­ Cultural Roadmap for the City Girl named Galapagos Art Space to their 2008 Top 10 list for culture.

...And from the past

"The hippest venue in Brooklyn, which happens to be the hippest borough in NYC."
-Rodgers Frantz, President, Richard Florida Creativity Group

“Galapagos, a premier art space...”
-New York Magazine 6.29.07

"A truly sublime reflecting pool, an expansive cathedral-like interior, brilliantly spotlit, the scenery is lush, [an] ever-growing cultural oasis".
-The New York Times

"Gorgeous, spacious, zen-like ..."
Décor was rated in the top 1%:"Extraordinary to Perfection."
Appeal and service were rated very good to excellent. Six "Best Of" category ratings. Galapagos won “Best Décor in Brooklyn” presented by Zagat and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
-Zagat Survey 2000-2005, New York City Nightlife

“Some of the best [Brooklyn] art is in the form of events, the most formal of them open video nights at Four Walls; screenings of experimental work at Ocularis; and performances at Galapagos."
-Holland Cotter, The New York Times

"A flawless design ... [a] delicate but assured touch. ... Brooklyn's low-key answer to Joe's Pub."
-City Search New York

"One of the more evocative new spaces."
-The New York Times

"When you consider all the people heading over to Brooklyn these days to get their culture fix at Galapagos, it's no wonder that the Williamsburg Bridge is in need of repair. One night the place offers a staged reading of a new play. The next, a multimedia presentation. Then a reading. Then a techno band, a punk band, a string quartet. The space itself looks like an installation, with its spooky reflecting pool, cavernous ceilings, walls of candles and sleek, welcoming bar."
-Time Out New York

"Some of New York City’s best writers and performers."
-The New York Times

"An essential element of New York City.”
“Galapagos has proved its true significance in the past few years. It has stimulated and inspired what's now a cluster of quality bars and restaurants..."
-TimeOut New York, Essential NYC: The NEW Essentials

"Quintessential Williamsburg bar/performance space/theater with mini-lake now quintessential Dumbo bar/performance space/theater with mini-lake. Rent-hike victim makes soft landing in ginormous, century-old horse stable on Main. Still looks good, still boasts truly kick-ass programming. Alternative comedy to make you wet your pants, Monday burlesque renews our faith in pasties. Film/video screenings give the indie kids something to pontificate about. All this, plus booze. Evolve."
-Black Book NYC

"Building a cultural movement brick by brick, [Galapagos Founder Robert] Elmes has created a low key nightspot where serious ideas can be discussed in an atmospheric setting"
-The Village Voice

Named to the top 100 list of the best nightclubs and bars in the United States
-Nightclub and Bar Magazine

"Irreverent, informative, and always political, Galapagos is sure to do more than just entertain... if you want an intelligent night out that is somewhere between the production of midtown theater and the ease of your local dive, then Galapagos is the place to go. It won't disappoint!"
-Not For Tourists NYC Guidebook

"Galapagos bills itself as an art, music, dance, theater and performance space, gallery and, finally, bar. It sounds ambitious, and it is... Galapagos may be the only public place in town where (while imbibing) you can hear a reading of Shakespeare's Tempest, shimmy to live Cuban music and see trapeze artists all in the same month."
-New York Magazine

"Galapagos is the molten core of the Williamsburg volcano, the Mecca to which all the faithful must turn five times a night."
-11211 Magazine

"Galapagos, often imitated but never duplicated, is well worth a visit."
-Gridskipper.com

“Galapagos Art Space is an important one to watch this year.”
-Gothamist

"An entirely different species of nightlife fauna… an imaginative venture."
-Paper Magazine

"I love Galapagos. It's one of the best clubs, for the best music, for the best price in town."
-Brian Lehrer, NPR / WNYC

"Located in an old mayonnaise factory ... this bohemian mixed-use multiplex offers its neighbors a ground-floor indoor reflecting pond, lit at night with floating candles. Inside, the space offers dance, music, and revival films, interspersed with the products of local filmmakers. During the summer, the films move up and out to the roof, where breezes and the Manhattan skyline provide distractions."
-City Secrets

"Seductive."
-New York Times, Guide to New York City

"An otherworldly ambience...sensuously lit."
-Toronto Globe and Mail Report