80’s NYC nightlife wasn’t gunfights and looting, it was party time

Still guided by the voice

When skirts were long and subways were safe, Michael Musto was a musto.

Everyone read it back when everyone read the Village Voice.

NYC nightlife in the ’80s wasn’t all gunfights and looting. It was party time. Studio 54. What was going on that nobody ever said was going on was Andy Warhol. Roy Cohn. Cher. Madonna. Lisa Minelli. Bianca Jaeger. Elton-John. Diana Ross. Brooke Shields.

Musto, then a Musto reader, wore balloons, bubbles, thrift crapola, drag. Shticks and Tricks. From Brooklyn, his aunt a nun, he would work at a party dressed from pajamas to papal uniform.

I’ve never been in that scene, but he mentions me. So, in case you missed all that, this month’s W Magazine is – excuse the expression – full of him.

Save Gotham

MORE. Comes a new document that it’s a crime to overlook. “Gotham: The Fall and Rise of New York.” Walks down the dark alley of the Big Apple chaos from 1966 to 2013. Cops, NYPD bosses, all on the record. Six mayors pursued nearly 40 years.

Director Matthew Taylor: “It’s archive footage, 26 interviews and re-enactments. But you can’t raid Manhattan. It’s still America’s largest city.”

From today on request.

In the kennel

MORE things I personally want to mention. Last week’s news about a NYC animal shelter and a beloved pup who is temporarily in their care – and won’t make it home alive.

I experienced that years ago. Never again! I know the lady who ran it. I know the shelter. I’m freaking out It was over a weekend. This tiny 4 pound Yorkie, my family member, I loved madly. I called the police. I hired a private security company.

Nobody admitted anything. Nobody would speak. I’m telling this now to warn anyone who needs to kennel a pet. Look at her. Make sure. Be sure.

Prosecutor or prosecutor?

How about we wrap up Bragg? Our prosecutor lets criminals and murderers out. Our country lets Biden bums hide, slide — and, listen, FBI agents can look for stories in Delaware.

Partisan politics doing this to a former President of the United States of America? A martyr in the eyes of his followers. A mouth that opens. A country with masses who respect him. Like him, dislikes doing this to a former President – FAULT. Conviction? Doubtful. Accusation? Please. What is this – Iran? Syria? Russia?

Tasty news

OTHER oddities are also in the pipeline. A resurgence. A retroactive movement. A return to familiar comfort.

The village. Macdougal Street. Monte’s Trattoria. Since I’ve known chef Peter Mosconi for years, I went. I couldn’t squeeze in. So full, crammed, mobbed – people waiting – they couldn’t find a table for me.

“It’s a resurgence,” I was told. “People who want to experience what they love again.”

DO NOT return in a hurry – the Friars Club. Alleged management problems. Its latest logo is a padlock. Also gone – its members. Like Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, George Burns, Milton Berle, Irving Berlin, Joan Rivers, Joey Adams.

And then Henny Youngman, who once said, “So I asked the guy how business was going. He said, “Not good. I had to fire my son-in-law and two of my wife’s nephews.’ ”