A Regular Studio 54 Regular
On a frigid night on February 2nd, 1980, Bob Robbins and his boyfriend left Elaine’s Restaurant on 87th Street and bumped into one of Studio 54’s owners, Steve Rubell. “We were leaving as Steve was coming in and he hugged me, ready to cry, and just said, ‘It was a good run, wasn’t it?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, it was,’ and that was it.” Bob left the restaurant and made his way to 54th Street for what was to be the closing party for Studio 54.
Bob lived on the Upper West Side and was a financial administrator for a city college. He wasn’t a celebrity. He wasn’t rich. But he was a regular at Studio 54. From the day the club opened to the closing party, he spent four nights a week inside the old theater, which to him wasn’t just a club; it was a haven. A place where he could be himself and forget the outside world.
In the late 1970s in Manhattan, the gay community took care of itself. “Everybody knew everybody; everybody took care of everybody. We had gay doctors, gay dentists, we kept everything in the community.”
He ran with a group of friends who frequented a gay club on West 4th Street called Infinity. Steve Rubell was in their circle, so when Studio 54 opened, the group was granted regular status from the start.
“Since I was there from the very beginning, they knew my face, they knew my boyfriend’s face, and we became regulars. Whenever the street was jam packed, they would just reach their arm out and pull us in,” Bob said.
Anything went on in the club. Guests were greeted with a different theatrical layout each night as the owners shifted around parts of the old stage. Upon entering, guests were flanked by private tables that hosted the likes of Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, and Truman Capote. The latest disco songs blared from a DJ booth perched above the old stage, now serving as the dance floor. Waiters wearing nothing but shorts brought trays of drinks around for those who weren’t at the bar.
One evening, the DJ, Richie Kosar, bought Bob and his boyfriend a round of beers. Bob went up to the empty booth to say thanks and noticed Diana Ross sitting in the corner alone. The two struck up a conversation and became friendly. They’d see each other at Elaine’s and say hello before setting off for another night at Studio 54.
“Nobody judged you, asked you where you worked, who you knew. It was a safe space,” Bob said. “I loved it, I felt very important.” He laughs. “Once you got through the doors, you automatically felt like a celebrity.”
Most nights ended when the sun came up, and Bob usually headed home or to work straight from the club. “The club was always kinda dark inside, so when those doors opened, you had to cover your face from the sunrise,” he said, shaking his head with a smile.
Bob was at the club the night of the police raid to find money hidden in the ceiling that Steve and his partner Ian skimmed. After the club closed, Bob felt a sense of loss. “I thought my life was over.”
A few years after Steve Rubell served a short prison sentence for tax evasion, he died in a hospital from AIDs. The club was bought by Mark Fleischman, a businessman, but quickly lost its appeal and most of the regulars stopped attending.
The party was over.
“I would do it all again, it was wonderful. It was happy times. The minute you walked in, you felt happy. You felt famous. It was like forgetting all your troubles at the door.”