• Area 10009 at Opaline

  85 Avenue A, 212-995-8684

  Opening night of Michael “Formika” Jones and D.J. Adam’s “Area 10009” Friday-night dance party at Opaline attracted a mixed crowd of about 400. But six months and about 24 parties later, the night has ballooned into a mostly gay-male crowd of about 1,000 with a handful of lesbians and straights thrown in (that would explain the lone female go-go dancer among the six prancing atop the bar). A recent surprise midnight appearance by Christina Aguilera proved that the boys here just wanna have fun. When the pop princess’s bodyguards got a little too pushy, Formika made a beeline for them. “I told them if they didn’t stop,” Formika says. “We’d never play her music again.” They simmered down, and Christina and crew stayed until 3:30 a.m. and danced to everything from the Clash to Britney Spears. Best of all: It’s open-bar from 10 p.m. till midnight, and it happens on Fridays, which gives you all weekend to recover in time for work (or school) on Monday.

From the 2003 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine