POLE NEW GAME
Exclusive look at ‘goddess parties’ where strippers run the show
THEY’VE GOT that “girl next door” look, though they try not to wake the neighbors.
They are a group of strippers who have found a place of their own to continue their work without the oversight of their bosses, transforming a woman’s Brooklyn apartment into an underground club where exotic dancers are worshiped as “goddesses.”
The dancers also invite a select group of customers, who during two recent weekend visits by the Daily News gained entry to the two-level Bushwick home featuring a portable pole, bouncer, bar and canopycovered couches for $40 lap dances. One thing those invited will not find is a male manager behind the scenes, slapping dancers on the behind with cheers to earn him more money.
The proprietress, a 28-year-old stripper originally from Colorado, prides herself on creating a space that inverts the normal strip club dynamic and puts women in control of their own sexuality rather than working for men.
“I don’t know of other parties like this run by women,” she told the Daily News of the weekly after-hours event, which runs from around 4 a.m. until 9 a.m. or later on either Friday or Saturday.
Dancers at her dimly lit dwelling do not have to pay a fee to dance as they would at some other clubs, nor are they subject to rules against certain body types or black women displaying their natural hair. Instead, the woman who runs it, who has asked to go by the fake name of Margaritte because of possible legal concerns, lets them keep almost all the money they make from dollar tips and lap dances, where prices vary from the industry-standard $20 and up.
The situation is not a windfall for the house, which invested in the $800 pole and has bought a stockpile of sheer curtains since it began about two years ago.
However, the strippers — facing less competition than at their clubs — have a high ceiling for earnings when their stiletto twirls attract a well-heeled customer who can pay for private dances by the hour rather than by the song.
End-of-night totals have reached more than $2,000 for the most popular dancers, who are often kind enough to give some of the money back to the establishment.
Margaritte says this past summer’s heat thinned crowds to mostly regulars, though more than 25 men came through and crashed on pillows against the wall during a recent two-hour visit by The News.
Some are the select few whom dancers invite back to the afterhours after meeting at a traditional strip club.
Earlier this year, the establishment also recruited a drag queen, who has asked to go by the fake name Rose, to go to parties throughout Brooklyn promoting the club to potential customers.
Some who arrive at the home end up leaving quickly after realizing it is not a normal after-hours, though Rose has noticed a phenomenon where one or two men from large groups who leave come back two to three hours later and spend the rest of the night.
The preferred types are those not stingy with money as their night runs into the early-morning hours, “experienced partyers” who can appreciate the peculiarities of the stripper-run club in their trophy case of nightlife experiences.
Though its pro-woman “goddess party” premise is unique, the club is just one part of the economy of exposing oneself in the 21st century.
The same women who promote their stripping sessions and burlesque shows to thousands of fawning followers on social media mix their fame with the obscurity of undisclosed locations.
Audrey Allen, a 24-year-old Queens native and ex-stripper who has more than 10,000 Instagram followers, said that the Bushwick club is probably one of the safer options for off-the-grid work. Allen has moved out of the exotic dancing game, and now splits her time between New York and L.A. while supporting herself with modeling, burlesque work and go-go dancing.
However, during her time as a stripper, she was invited to secret sex parties and “lap dance parties,” which have similarities to the Bushwick after-hours except they cater to suits in places such as the Financial District.
They are also generally run by men, whom Allen characterizes as “those pretend hotshots that seem kind of power-hungry” and justify the profits they make off women because they can connect them to wealthy customers.
Lap dance parties are also more focused on giving their clientele many women to choose
from, with dozens of dancers — some making very little money — competing for the attention of a smaller group of generally older professionals.
The bleary-eyed Brooklynites rolling into the Bushwick apartment during the wee hours of a recent Saturday morning were a diverse group of races and ages, though they skewed a little millennial. House party vibes and $4 beers ease the performers into contact with patrons as the night continues, which Margaritte says help “the white-collar guys who are a little cowed by the regular strip club atmosphere.”
Those connected to the party also hope that putting women in more control will generally help destigmatize “sex work,” words that are often associated with women who have been exploited, victimized and trafficked.
Margaritte uses the term to encompass a broad range of jobs focusing on selling sexuality, including stripping.
The club founder, who identifies as a feminist and supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, says the lack of structure in sex work can be freeing under a capitalist system where “nobody is really valued as they should be.”
Its particular principles are what led the Bushwick enterprise to fend off financing from wouldbe investors offering to turn the home into something more professional.
A man said that he could provide added security and funds for the party, though stipulations included charging women a fee to work, introducing illegal gambling and bringing in a preexisting “lap dance party” where patrons can purchase oral sex.
During recent visits, The News did not see any evidence of prostitution.
Margaritte said that bringing in someone else’s security also seemed dangerous. “They offer to give money for an air conditioner, for whatever return, but they also think that they get to f--k all the girls,” she said.
“You need to be a sex worker if you’re going to be running sex workers. You cannot tell someone to use their body that way unless you’re willing to do it yourself,” Rose says.
The do-it-yourself apartment party does create a mild security worry about aggressive patrons, though a bouncer/doorman is paid to help deal with the few who have become too disorderly or drunk.
He acts as a substitute for the ability to call police, with whom the operation is thankful that it has yet to have any problems with.
An NYPD spokesman did not comment.
You need to be a sex worker if you’re going to be running sex workers. You cannot tell someone to use their body that way unless you’re willing to do it yourself