Moxy NYC East Village opens today in the heart of the iconic East Village where rock 'n' roll, renegade art, LGBTQ+ activism, and generations of immigrants all merged to give birth to American counterculture. Located on East 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues, directly across from the legendary concert venue Webster Hall, the hotel features 286 design-driven bedrooms, co-working spaces, and tech-savvy amenities, as well as lively restaurants, bars, and cultural programming - all at an affordable price. Part of Marriott International's experiential Moxy Hotels brand, Moxy East Village marks the third Moxy property developed by Lightstone, following the successful openings of Moxy Times Square and Moxy Chelsea.
Design: A Vertical Timeline
With interior design by Rockwell Group and architecture by Stonehill Taylor, Moxy East Village is conceived as a vertical timeline, drawing inspiration from various eras in East Village history, from the earliest settlers to the punk era to today. Interior design is inspired by urban archaeology, with the hotel's 13 floors loosely conceived as homages to different eras in the East Village's past and present, as well as its future. Three check-in kiosks just inside the entrance are assemblages by local artist Michael Sanzone, made from found objects and materials. Behind the kiosks, striped tapestries hang on the walls and bleed onto the floors. Their alternating bands of graffiti and graphics recall shredded layers of wheat-pasted posters—the kind you might see peeling off a downtown building façade.
Food & Beverage: The Spirit of Underground
Lightstone has once again teamed up with Tao Group Hospitality who oversees the four brand-new dining and drinking venues at Moxy East Village that offer a multitude of scenes all under one roof. Alphabet Bar & Café opens today, C athédrale and Little Sister will open in mid-September, and the rooftop bar will launch Spring 2020.
Alphabet Bar & Café, situated in the lobby, serves as the social heart of Moxy East Village, comprising a bar, terrace, co-working lounge, and meeting studios that seamlessly transition from day to night. The seating includes plush sofas and swinging chairs; a Skee-Ball game provides a hit of nostalgia for the arcade era. An interactive real-time graffiti installation lets guests use a tablet to draw their own tag or sketch a bit of street art, like a latter-day Basquiat or Haring, and see it projected on the wall. The iconic Strand Bookstore will have a cart in Alphabet Bar offering free books, and nearby Academy Records will offer free vinyl LPs and curated collections so guests can listen to the sounds of the East Village's past, present, and future—to play on a retro turntable, provided in-room on request. Alphabet Café serves an all-day menu of custom artisanal brews by Intelligentsia Coffee, freshly baked goods, composed salads, and seasonal panini and tartines.
The centerpiece of Moxy East Village is Cathédrale, a French-Mediterranean restaurant conceived by Tao Group Hospitality Chef/Partner Ralph Scamardella, in collaboration with Executive Chef Jason Hall. As diners descend from the lobby—via a staircase that resembles a fire escape between two East Village buildings—they'll feel like they're discovering an abandoned architectural treasure. That's thanks to the show-stopping Rockwell Group-designed main dining room, a triple-height space covered by Italian artist Edoardo Tresoldi's dramatic wire mesh sculpture that looks like the apparition of a grand domed ceiling. Named by Forbes as one of the 30 most influential European artists under 30, Tresoldi is revered for his installations in public spaces, including Etherea at the 2018 Coachella Music Festival. His ethereal sculpture for the ceiling of Cathédrale pays homage to the interior of the Fillmore East, once known as the "Church of Rock 'n' Roll." The delicate yet monumental sculpture, called Fillmore, is made from Tresoldi's signature wire mesh and floats above the main dining room, creating a dramatic dialogue with the restaurant's architecture. Tresoldi describes Fillmore as "an "architectural precious wreck" and a "tribute to the legendary cultural background that influenced not only New York's culture, but several generations worldwide."
Under Cathédrale's soaring, 26-foot ceilings, the space includes a blue-tiled, open-hearth kitchen hung with copper pots and equipped with a rotisserie grill. An outdoor dining terrace, with a retractable roof, also feels like a hidden surprise: channeling the improvised backyard gardens tucked behind many East Village restaurants. The Poster Room, a private dining space that seats up to 26, immerses guests in the psychedelic rock era, its walls and ceiling lined with backlit screen prints of vintage concert posters from the Fillmore East. Cathédrale brings elemental cooking and a poised French-Mediterranean sense of hospitality to its striking setting. The menu is focused on well-prepared but simply arranged dishes that pay quiet deference to the cuisine of Southern France with traces of Italy, Spain, and Greece.
Located on the lower level, adjacent to Moxy East Village, Little Sister is an intimate, seductive, sophisticated lounge - an update from the underground clubs that defined East Village nightlife in the 1990s. Its clandestine, cavern-like feel is enriched by jewel-toned velvet sofas and plush banquettes, embossed leather accents, a glowing copper DJ stand, and a mirrored-copper bar illuminated by an overhead bank of backlit whiskey bottles. Wood-clad, barrel-vaulted ceilings evoke a hidden underground chamber where whiskey might have been stored in the bootlegger era. Legendary doorman Wass Stevens, will conspire to create an exclusive, in-the-know vibe at the ropes.
Opening in Spring 2020, the rooftop bar is designed to resemble a coveted New York City backyard garden, with strung garden lights, abundant foliage, and colorful patio furniture. A retractable roof allows the bar to be used in all seasons. Behind the bar, liquor bottles will be displayed in stacked plastic milk crates—not unlike those you'd spot on an East Village sidewalk. On one wall, interlaced with crawling ivy, will be a mural that overlays a map of the area with images from the neighborhood's musical and artistic history. The venue will be available for private events and hotel programming before its official debut.
Programming: Culture of the Community
Similar to Moxy Hotels around the world, Moxy East Village has a focus on playful cultural programming, allowing the hotel to integrate into the broader community, introducing guests and locals to the neighborhood's creators, tastemakers, and businesses. "We conceived of the hotel as a sort of crossroads: Guests can use it as a starting point for their explorations beyond the four walls, and local creators and businesses can use it as an extension of their community," said Mitchell Hochberg, President of Lightstone. For instance, Talk@Moxy will be an ongoing series of discussions showcasing local voices and the #SweatatMoxy series will introduce guests and locals to area wellness experts, like MNDFL, who will offer morning rooftop meditation sessions as well as meditation videos on the in-room TVs.
The hotel has also produced a series of short videos titled "Off the Beaten Path," featuring neighborhood legends and characters who will talk about the East Village's past, present, and future that guests will be able to enjoy on the in-room TVs, online, and on the @MoxyEastVillage Instagram. In addition, the hotel has forged exclusive partnerships with neighborhood institutions. It will be the preferred hotel partner for Webster Hall, providing VIP concert access to select guests. The prestigious art school Cooper Union will have their student's work shown on a dedicated channel on the in-room TVs and will exhibit select student works and host panels at the hotel while providing guests access to events on campus. Other East Village restaurants, shops, galleries, and nearby businesses will be invited to host pop-ups in the lobby and other public spaces in the hotel.
