The best places to dance in NYC

Few places in NYC make you wanna party as hard on a weeknight as this glorious neighborhood spot. Inside, you can sip expertly mixed cocktails at the handsome front bar, then head to the red-lit back room for hip weekly happenings (think frequent all-night, all-vinyl disco sets and local funk bands). Many of our favorite Ponyboy nights are Wednesdays and Thursdays, but check its Instagram each month for a full schedule of events. Head here on a Friday and Saturday to experience it popping off like a full-on nightclub. 

This cocktail bar down the street from Pianos turns into a party on the weekend and is probably the closest thing to a Brooklyn dance bar you’re going to get in the Lower East Side. Downstairs is where you’ll shake what your mama gave you—there’s a disco ball above a sizable dance floor with an ever-changing roster of DJs setting the scene.

If you peek through the dilapidated warehouses and storefronts in Bushwick, you’ll usually catch sights of bearded men or Edison bulbs signaling “Cool gentrification bar here.” Jupiter Disco, however? Not so much. Its block is so deserted that you might be taken aback when a bouncer coolly asks, “Looking for Jupiter?” Sure, it has a silly name and proudly touts a midcentury dystopian sci-fi theme, but the industrial, LED-lit bar is much less a cheap play at Instagram likes than an earnest letter to the science-fiction genre. ORDER THIS: Pop-culture–nodding cocktails, named after everything from British prog-rock songs (a tequila-vermouth quaff dubbed Confusion Will Be My Epitaph!) to chapters of The Hobbit (a rye-and-sherry–blending Riddles in the Dark). While not every cocktail from bartenders Al Sotack (Death & Co.) and Maks Pazuniak (Maison Premiere) fully takes off—the Well Deserved Punch ($12) is a sugar overload of pineapple, lime and strawberry—the applejack-based How to Travel ($12) surely does. Its sweetness of honey and vermouth is tempered with bitter IPA, striking a smooth, floral balance with a pop of fizz. Heads-up: The bar eschews a physical paper menu for a drinks list that scrolls on two TVs, so keep an eye out. GOOD FOR: Your own modern-day Mos Eisley cantina. (A framed blueprint of the beloved Star Wars tavern can be found on one wall.) The bunkerlike space is outfitted with orange florescent lights, dark turquoise booths and nostalgia-inducing tech tchot

Former Mission Chinese executive chef Angela Dimayuga unveiled this pioneering concept at the Standard East Village. Unabashedly queer and unbound by convention—No Bar’s website declares that there are “no covers, no rules, no holds barred”.

At this unmarked hideaway under the Williamsburg Bridge, the swinging clientele dances by candlelight to Latin-infused beats laid down by sexy DJs. Take a breather from the samba or salsa and refuel with tequila shots at the sleek wooden bar. Regulars swear by the unusual post-shot practice of dipping one side of the lime in fresh-ground coffee and the other in sugar. You’ll have to try it for yourself.

This Astoria haunt is self-described as “your friendly neighborhood cocktail bar,” but it’s actually more than that. It doubles as a rustic and relaxed dinner and brunch spot, and moonlights as a lively bar where game-playing fiends congregate to play classics from your childhood like Guess Who?, Uno and Scrabble. The spot is also known to host bangin' dance parties. 

This club and live-music venue draws indie bands and party seekers to a relatively quiet stretch of increasingly trendy Crown Heights with events most nights. Be sure to check out their Wednesday party called Almighty Burner where you'll hear throwback funk, soul, boogie, and electro. On the last Saturday of the month, the Brooklyn haunt hosts their longest running party— an old school hip hop party called Future Old School.

Decked out in surprisingly convincing ’70s decor, this Brooklyn lounge puts its sizeable performance space to a diverse number of uses: the eclectic calendar of live music and DJ sets ranges from groovy funk combos to blippy synth-pop acts. Regardless of what you stumble upon, though, you’ll find plenty of dance space available for showcasing your latest moves.