The Delancey Rooftop

I’ve only written a couple reviews and I only do so if a place made a VERY BIG impression on me. Of course, I never want to sound like a “Karen,” but I hope my comments can help improve the experience of the space.

I want to begin this review with compliments towards the bartenders and the vibe of the venue. The bartenders were absolutely fantastic and ensured we were served well. The drinks were also made fantastically. While they were pricey, I expected that from a club in NYC (I’m from Maryland, so I may be wrong). Additionally, the vibe around the venue was cool and exactly what we imagined for a night out. We have some great pictures from our night! If you want to have a fun night out with your friends, then I would definitely suggest this place.

Now on to the critiques: the reservation experience needs serious work. We reserved a space for my best friend’s birthday. This was planned with direct communication with the venue via email over the course of a week. We were given the impression that with a reservation, the space we get is private—as in those allowed in the space will only be those in our party. This is also supported on their website. However, unbeknownst to us, random people were still able to walk through the space we reserved. In fact, most of these people stayed there, even after we told them we reserved the space. When we asked for help, multiple employees told us people could still walk through and STAY there. One employee told us the rope that separated the reserved space and the dance floor was a fire hazard. If so, why was the rope there at all? Additionally, why call it a reserved space if it wasn’t going to stay that way?

On top of that, a random guest (again, not apart of our reservation) dropped a bottle and it shattered everywhere in the space we reserved. We asked for help, but no one came to address it nor clean it. My friend who’s birthday it was ended up scooping it to the side with her heel to prevent anyone from stepping on it. Considering we now had several random people in the space we reserved, we didn’t want anyone to step on glass. It appeared that staff cared more about the “fire hazard” of keeping our reserved space closed off than the fact that guests could injure themselves on broken glass.

Also, the DJ remixed songs interestingly, but not in a good way. We were told the music was separated by floors: top EDM, bottom hip hop/RNB/rap. We were downstairs: the DJ would start a hip hop/rap song off fine for maybe 20 seconds, but quickly change it to an EDM remix. We specifically chose downstairs for the style of music, so that was disappointing. Additionally, as a West African, a word of advice is to leave Afro-beats alone; for all DJs looking at this review, please leave Afro-beats and EDM...

We came for 2000s night. We were invited last minute so I admit we were not dressed for a 2000s night but we get our IDs checked the guy at the door had no clue what we were talking about in terms of a 2000s nite. We talk to the lady by the door. She had no clue either but she says the DJs do play 2000s music but the DJs will be here later. I said well it says 9pm. We got there at 830 as it starts at 9. There's nobody there. We decided to just hang out. We sit down for a bit then go up to the rooftop and sit down there. We are told that we have to get up because we haven't reserved that seat. I tell the girl okay we're just waiting for the 2000's night to start. So then she gets her co-worker. Her co-worker is very nice she says "can you wait by the bar and I'll come help you." At that point we were thinking let's come back later because there's no one here and we can't sit down. Right as we are walking out she comes out after us. She said she's sorry that she kept us waiting and she's sorry about the whole situation but come back at 11:00 I promise that it will be fun. No one ever mentions anything about how we were dressed the entire time that we were there. We were there for an hour. We come back in an hour and 15 minutes. Surely enough there is a huge line with a bunch of people waiting to get in as promised. We get to the front of the line and are screamed at and told we aren't dressed appropriately for a 2000s night. I'm not kidding you. He made me jump he came out of nowhere. My friend got very upset with the way the absolute deplorable man running this "door" spoke to him. I tell him we got here at 830 we hung out for an hour. We were told to come back NOW. We ubered here. Now you are not going to let us in after ALL of this? He said no I'm not letting you in sorry. I try to talk to another employee and see if we can talk to the nice girl we talked to before. The deplorable doorman runs over and starts screaming at me saying he runs this door and I can't speak to anyone else. I went back and forth with him a little because no one is going to tell me what I can and cannot do. However we were disappointed that our whole night which mostly consisted of waiting for this to start ended with not being allowed to go in. I will...

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! As a professional musician who has performed extensively across New York, the U.S., and Europe, I can confidently say: I’ve never encountered such unprofessional and outright disrespectful behavior from a venue. During our performance at Delancey, the sound “technician”—who was not only rude but astonishingly unqualified, actively hostile, and disgracefully immature—cut our stage sound mid-song and played house music over us. His reason? He claimed we had gone three minutes over our set time, which we hadn’t. Rather than simply communicating with us, as any competent and respectful professional would, he decided to sabotage a live performance. This isn’t just incompetence—it’s a complete disregard for musicians, the audience, and the art itself. Let me be clear: this wasn’t a mistake. It was a conscious act of pettiness, fueled by arrogance and a complete lack of understanding of how to work with live performers. To the management: by hiring someone like this, you not only disrespected us, but also every single person of the audience and professional musician we brought that night—people who will never return, and who will spread the word. You’ve lost an active, respected band in the scene. You’ve lost our audience. You’ve most probably lost the other bands who performed that night and assisted to such scenario which were as disgusted as us. And, most importantly, you’ve lost the trust of a community that values music, collaboration, and mutual respect— along with many possible income. To the sound guy: if you feel frustrated in life and your goal was to prove to yourself how “big” of a person you are, bad news for you—you spectacularly failed little boy. To the owners and management: you hired someone who disrespected live artists and the audience that feeds you in real time. That’s on you.
The fact that such a venue is allowed to operate in New York City is a disgrace to the live music community. UNFORGIVABLE. This was never just about the set.
It’s about dignity, professionalism, decency, and the right of artists to be treated like...