From the outside, Excess Club looks anything
but excessive.
Housed in a modest, three-story, aluminum-sided row house, deep
in the part of Greenpoint that remains immune to the spillover
from ultra-hip Williamsburg, this neighborhood bar serves as
a cultural center to the multiethnic area.
Inspired by the other Polish discos in the area, Europa, Exit
and Episode, owners Stanley Goracy, 49, and Andre Zdrok, 30,
wanted a name that would be a variation on that letter-E theme,
but one that would communicate to residents how Excess is different.
"We’re more than just a bar," said Goracy, a Polish-born
journalist. "We’re the only lounge in the Greenpoint area."
Sandwiched between Monsignor McGolrick Park and the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway, this section of Greenpoint still feels like a small
town. Signs are often printed in Polish, and small businesses
like Ida’s Sweet Shop or Obuwia Shoe Repair line quiet Driggs
Avenue. But inside Excess Club, the young folks from the neighborhood
congregate for a variety of cultural events.
The 100-person-capacity club has a front bar and back room, as
well as a back patio ("Perfect for smokers," said Zdrok),
and they offer programs each night that cater to the diverse
makeup of the neighborhood.
Monday nights, Excess offers film screenings, featuring documentaries
and narrative films with Polish themes, in the lounge area. Wednesdays
they play hip-hop, and every other Thursday the club is home
to Polish-American artists, who decorate the walls with photographs
or paintings. On Fridays, Excess hosts live bands, and on Saturdays,
they have DJs who play everything from salsa to ’80s pop. Sunday
nights they often play Polish pop.
"We are in the area where Polish and Latinos live together,"
said Goracy. "We try to accommodate and have something for
all those people from different backgrounds."
They’ve added another feature to their roster, a regular appearance
by the reggae band One Tree, who perform the third Friday of
every month. If reggae seems an unlikely choice to bridge Polish
and Latino cultures, guess again.
"When I have some kind of band from Williamsburg, guys playing
rock ’n’ roll, Polish people don’t get it. Latinos don’t either,"
said Zdrock. "Music is universal, it’s in all cultures but
reggae music speaks to everyone. "
The name One Tree comes from the notion that reggae blends an
assortment of styles: one tree, many branches. And One Tree draws
from each of reggae’s subgenres, including ska, rock steady,
roots and dancehall. The band is itself an ethnic crossover,
including a Nigerian drummer, a keyboardist from St. Croix, and
a Jewish bassist from Long Island, so it’s a perfect match for
the mission of Excess Club.
"The band has seven people with different backgrounds, playing
in a Polish club. Half of the customers are Latino, half are
Polish," said Zdrok. "All the groups were present and
everybody had fun."
"Half of the people were stunned and captivated. Some others
were grooving," said bandleader David Suskin, 35, about
their first performance at Excess. "I like playing at Club
Excess in particular. I like the setting."
The club is painted in deep tomato reds, with red leather couches
and fish tank lights. The art deco front bar is a remnant of
the club’s former incarnation as an Irish pub.
"The decoration was done by two graduates from the Polish
Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow," Goracy said proudly. "We
wanted it to be as attractive as the places in Williamsburg and
other places in Greenpoint."
But while it may look as good as those other clubs, Excess has
much more of a neighborhood feel, and their programming is more
attuned to the needs of their customers. They even offer special
Polish drinks, like Okocim beer, Zubrowka (vodka mixed with apple
juice), and a "Wild Dog" cocktail: raspberry vodka
mixed with Tabasco sauce.
Goracy and Zdrok opened Excess in late July, hoping to bridge
the dominant ethnicities in this part of Greenpoint, as well
as to compete with some of Williamsburg’s hottest venues like
Pete’s Candy Store or Galapagos. Zdrok, who works in finance,
was once a bartender, and Goracy has owned his own advertising
agency and worked in public relations.
"It’s a new experience for us as the owners of the bar,
but we know what we’re doing," said Goracy.
It shows. The crowd is a blend of locals, but they draw bargoers
from everywhere.
"We have people coming from Manhattan and different boroughs,"
said Goracy. "And from Long Island, South Brooklyn and Queens.
"
While their regulars are mostly Polish and Latino, Goracy finds
commonality among all his patrons.
As he said, "We’re all Americans here."
Excess Club is located at 37 Driggs
Ave. at Sutton Street in Greenpoint. The next One Tree performance
is Nov. 21 at 9:30 pm. $7 cover charge. For more information,
call (718) 389-2449 or visit the Web site at www.excessclub.com.
