Huffington Post: Susanne Bartsch Presents 'bARTsch' At The Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery →

New York City nightlife impresario Susanne Bartsch has been a legend within the scene for decades, playing an integral part in the evolution of its culture since the 1980s and helping to sustain life after dark during the hyper-regulated years of Rudy Giuliani's mayorship.

Now, Bartsch is embarking on a new endeavor outside of nightlife that centers around the talents of five artists who play integral roles in her regular events. Called "bARTsch," the one-night group exhibition at the Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery this Thursday will feature sculptures, paintings, photos and performances from this group of artists whose work crosses conceptual lines of gender and media, body and audience, visual art and performance ...

Next Magazine: Pride in Brooklyn →

The Pride edition of Susanne Bartsch’s wildly popular Brooklyn party Kunst, co-produced by Dreamhouse, is taking things to the next level with live performances by La’fem Ladosha, Light Asylum’s Shannon F., Bunny Michael, and Jonté Moaning. The boys, girls, and everyone in between of Brooklyn will be dancing to music by Juliana Huxtable, Honey Dijon, Disco Smack, and Mandy Graves & Jools Palmer. Avery Noyes will be setting the scene with crazy cyber video art as a plethora of nightlife beauties host, including Gage of the Boone, Amanda Lepore, Trey LaTrash, Domonique Echeverria, Gerry Visco, One-Half Nelson, and others ...

Oak: Recap: KUNST! at Verboten →

NYC was out in full-force on Saturday night for Susanne Bartsch + Dreamhouse’s new Brooklyn party KUNST! at Verboten in North Williamsburg. The massive former metal shop was packed with familiar faces, and the rainy night didn’t stop anyone from having fun. Highlights from KUNST! included a DJ set from our friend Michael Magnan and a performance by the one and only La’Fem Ladosha ...

The Standard: Susanne Bartsch Pops UP in Hollywood →

Nightlife doyenne Susanne Bartsch proved once and for all that the party is wherever she says it is. Last Friday, she threw one of her famous glitter-and-leather-doused extravaganzas at mmhmmm. The event featured performances by Joey Arias and Amanda Lepore, plus LA mainstays Phillis Navidad, James St James, The Boulet Brothers, and World of Wonder rounded out the epic fête with New York’s W. Jeremy and Los Angeles’ Josh Peace bi-coastal blitz at the decks ...

Huffington Post: RuPaul Takes A Drive With Susanne Bartsch →

RuPaul's web series "RuPaul Drives...." is still going strong and last week the Supermodel of The World took a drive with none other than New York City nightlife icon Susanne Bartsch.

During their ride the pair discusses Ru's roots in New York nightlife, and both of their roles within the 1980s and '90s NYC nightlife scene. The pair also highlight the changing face of New York economically, and the way that impacts the ability to make a name for oneself in nightlife today.

"There's incredible people still. I have an amazing new crew that are all going to be very big and famous and successful," Bartsh tells Ru. "I'm actually in the middle of creating something new that's like the art and fashion are fused into one."

GAYLETTER: KUNST →

The nightlife legend Susanne Bartsch is still going strong and there’s no sign that she’s going to stop creating some of the most exciting parties in NYC. This Saturday she launches Kunst at this new space in BK, Verboten, with a great sound system. It’s “equal parts warehouse, gallery and dance club,” It’s Susanne’s first party in Brooklyn: “I decided to do a promo shoot for the party on the L train, there I was in full Punk Ball gown regalia and ran into about 15 people I know and admire...If I had any doubts about Brooklyn, that confirmed that I’m going in the right direction...I think it’s gonna be a stellar crowd.” ...

The New York Times: The Best of Two Seasons →

In a swirl of extravagant costumes, tiara-crested drag queens and disco records, Susanne Bartsch and David Barton hosted their annual holiday toy drive at the Soho Grand Hotel on Tuesday night

“It feels good to help the underprivileged, the kids in the hospitals and shelters,” said Ms. Bartsch, the clubland impresario. She presided over the party in a nude-colored gown. “It ends my year on a perfect note.” ...

The Standard: Susanne Bartsch Closes Halloween Weekend →

This year, Halloween was a non-stop party session with events starting as early as Friday night. Our first epic gathering was the annual chic event in the ballroom located at the top of the Standard called Saints & Sinners. Our grand finale was last night, the 31st, on the exact day of Halloween. Who else could close out a marathon weekend better than the longstanding queen of nightlife, Susanne Bartsch? Here’s a few snapshots to illustrate the fierceness of each guest as they toasted drinks near an art installation containing living doves. See more photos in our gallery.

We can happily report that the highlight of the evening was the grand dance-off between Susanne Bartsch & Amanda Lepore. Together on stage, they were performing the Tots.

Next Magazine: Susanne Bartsch and co. turn Buddakan into an Auntie Mame-themed Halloween party to remember →

As we all know, New York City is one of the best places in the world to celebrate Halloween, and if it lands on a weeknight, traditionally the night to do it up is the Saturday before the 31. With that in mind, there was a lot of pressure to pick the right party to hit up this past weekend.

But when Susanne Bartch announced she was throwing an Auntie Mame-themed Halloween bash at Budakan, the decision was easy! Bartch has ruled Halloween for decades. Reigning over the scene, she really is like the Auntie Mame of New York City’s nightlife—always choosing fun and fantasy over practicality and order. Granted, using a space that is not (comparatively) huge, had us a bit skeptical. Plus, she has had a history of Halloween parties being shut down by the cops. Was this going to be a huge dragsaster, or a night to remember? ...

Next Magazine: Shhh!!! at the McKittrick Hotel turns partying into an immersive, theatrical experience →

We first heard about Susanne Bartsch's Shhh!!! event in late June when a familiar face handed us a piece of card stock at The Cock at closing time (don't judge!) that listed a TriBeCa address, a list of names, and an RSVP email in a heavily serifed font. We didn't make the July date, but we made sure to mark our calendar for the Shhh!!! premiere at the McKittrick Hotel where the popular Sleep No More experience is housed ...

Next Magazine: Nightlife Hall of Fame 2013: Susanne Bartsch →

Susanne Bartsch is flitting about the club room at The Soho Grand, a mini whirlwind of gauzy black tulle. It’s 10pm and this is just the first of the two parties she hosts every Tuesday night. 

“Can I get you a drink?” she asks the evening’s performer, Bridget Everett. The buxom singer asks for a chardonnay, her signature tipple, but Bartsch produces a coupe brimming with champagne. Because, you know, what else would anyone drink, darling?

“At the end of the day I’m just a cocktail waitress,” Bartsch says with a self-depreciating laugh as she pops olives into her mouth, waiting for more drinks for her other guests. “I love the tiger you’ve wrapped yourself in tonight!” she tells DJ Johnny Dynell who is in fact celebrating his birthday in a splashy leopard print suit ...

Paper: A Look Into the Life of Nightlife Legend Susanne Bartsch →

It's not an exaggeration to say nightlife legend Susanne Bartsch has ruled the New York club world for decades. She has sashayed half nude, covered in high-fashion finery, wigs and other accoutrements through every major club since the 80s and she's still hotter than ever. Currently holding court on Tuesdays at SoHo Grand and Thursday at Marquee, she's just finished a summer season of weekly On Top parties at the Standard Hotel. Despite the ups and downs of the crazy world of NYC clubs, the Swiss born Bartsch has the face and body of a Playboy bunny in her early 30s. Our photographer, Rebecca Smeyne, visited Bartsch at her home in the Chelsea Hotel as she prepped for her weekly Thursday night party, Catwalk Marquee. Smeyne later caught up with Bartsch while hosting her other bashes -- Tuesdays at Soho Grand and On Top at The Standard. We, meanwhile, took her on a walk down memory lane and heard her feelings about whether NYC is still number one or just ain't what it used to be ...

The New York Times: Not Going Gentle Into That Good Night →

Susanne Bartsch frowned into a ceiling-high mirror, lifting her left breast with her palm. “This one looks droopy,” she said, in her Swiss-German accent. She turned and examined her svelte profile, adding proudly, “They’re only a year old.”

It was nearing 11 p.m. on a Thursday, and Ms. Bartsch, flanked by a pair of stylists and her yapping schnauzer, Bippy, had been primping in her boho-chic Chelsea Hotel apartment for more than an hour. Not that the process is ever brief; for Ms. Bartsch, the Swiss Miss of New York night life since the Koch era, dressing up is as meticulous an art form as decoupage.

But on this particular night, still jet-lagged from a jaunt to Singapore, Ms. Bartsch was exasperated. Her makeup was all wrong. (“I wanted rhinestone dots, not black splatches!”) A ruffled harness with a giant pink bow, which slung up around her shoulder from her petite waist, had no identifiable front or back. Same with an enormous, custom black wig, which was shaped like a sousaphone ...