Save the Robots

Save the Robots was an underground after hours club in New York City's East Village neighborhood. "Robots," as the venue was popularly known, operated quasi-legally from a nondescript storefront and basement at 25 Avenue B, between East 2nd and 3rd Streets, from 1983 until mid-1984, when the club was shut down for fire safety violations. After undergoing safety-related renovations and obtaining a social club license, the venue reopened in early January 1986.

The club was frequented by drag performers, musicians, club kids, employees of other bars and clubs, skinheads and other denizens of downtown New York nightlife, including Dean Johnson and Lady Bunny. Save the Robots was known for its late hours of operation and sold only vodka, soda and juice. Patrons typically arrived after 4 a.m. and partied until the 8 a.m. closing time, often with the aid of recreational drugs. At one point, talk show host Craig Ferguson worked there a bouncer.

The year 1993 marked the last days of 'Robots' before its imminent closure. The space was subsequently leased to other operators, who transformed it into a fully licensed dance club, and endeavored to capitalize on the "Save the Robots" name, without consent from the original owners—and with few vestiges of the original clientele or atmosphere.