14
By: Jack Tutalo
Club Scene
Harlem has no shortage of nightlife and it has a nightclub for just about everybody. Whether you want to rub shoulders with gangsters, the mayor or celebrities or need something a little more quiet and subdued Harlem has something for you. During the peak of the Harlem Renaissance and during prohibition there were about 500 speakeasies in Harlem alone. Harlem's nightlife consisted of Jazz halls, dance halls, and even restaurants. Some of the key clubs during this period was the Cotton Club, Savoy Ballroom, Lafayette Theater and Smalls Paradise. Unfortunately, some of these clubs were segregated, The Cotton Club, for example, was originally a "whites-only" nightclub, but many of the other clubs around Harlem allowed black people to enter.
"Everybody came. Everybody came to the Cotton Club." - Cab Calloway