Hurrah was my entry into clubworld. I based much of my decision to attend Fordham at Lincoln Center because Hurrah was just around the corner. Studies during the day -- dancing and live music at night. Didn't always quite work out that well. But I did get to see XTC and Lene Lovich at Hurrah, among others. It was an unpretentious, friendly place operating at the (brief) height of New Wave. Put on a sharp thin lapel suit jacket, a pair of tight pants, pointy shoes, and give a smile to the doorman, and you were in the door.

Arthur was one of the greats. I was proud to have worked for him @ The World and along with folks like Rudolf and Jim Fourrat and others who were the architects of what is loosely described as "The Scene", he was a true original. I knew him and I'll miss him.

Unauthorized obit:

ARTHUR WEINSTEIN who's clubs The Continental, The Jefferson, Hurrah, The World, and later his association with The Limelight and The Tunnel in New York City and who defined underground nightlife from Los Angeles to Ibiza died in St. Vincents Hospital in New York yesterday. He was sixty years old and lived in the Chelsea Hotel on twenty third street in New York.

Arthur and his wife Colleens collaborations with club owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager revolutionized the way nightlife was experienced in the 1980's and 90's taking club-goers through a euphoric and sometimes dizzying maze of sensory experiences from the time they would pass the velvet ropes and bouncers stares to the final breath of after hours dancing.

His use of extreme mood lighting and the creation of small intimate spaces around the dance floor or tucked away into the recesses of the clubs interior predated the VIP areas requisite in clubs today. These spaces invited a certain lifestyle and patrons know they could experience the privacy of home while listening to the greatest DJ's of the era.

Finding club ownership taxing and literally too high maintenance, Arthur worked as lighting designer for many of the best clubs in New York and elsewhere offering his services the biggest names in the business. After spending hundreds of thousands on complex lighting systems for their high end venues club owners would ask arthur to consult usually the night before an opening party. Arthur was known to walk around the club unplugging fixtures and unscrewing bulbs replacing them with his signature pinspot parcans. The overall effect was dark and moody because as he would say "come over ere...I got sometin for ya".

Turning to fine art in his later years Arthur began creating silkscreens of famous faces he would capture digitally and transfer to large plexiglass discs and canvasses. He had a one man show in New York in 2005.

Arthur is survived by his only daughter Dahlia and wife Colleen.

Dean Johnson wrote:

1985
"While I was working the door at Save The Robots an obnoxious little man insisted on being let in to the club and I had to turn him away. He said, "You'll be sorry, I'm Arthur Weinsteins's brother, I'll have you fucking killed. I'm gonna go get him right now. You'll be sorry." Well, I was a little nervous since rumor had it that Arthur Weinstein had killed a man at an after-hour club called The Jefferson, but there was a higher principle at stake here. His brother was gross. A few minutes later a shadowy, menacing figure showed up at my door. It was Arthur Weinstein. "Do you know who I am?" he asked me.
"Yes," I replied.
"Did you turn my brother away from your door?"
"Yes," I repeated. He leaned in closely and looked me square in the eyes.
"Would you like to come work for me?" he asked. A week later I started as the doorman at the World.

Dean wrote that here:
http://www.velvetmafiatheband.com/art1.htm

Dean Johnson, RIP
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2007/10/rip_dean_johnso.html

thx Joly
http://punkcast.com/

Thank you Arthur for giving me The World and Club IT. I have great memories of me at 15 yrs old seeing the Pixies open for Jesus and Mary Chain and standing next to Bjork while watching Janes Addiction play. This was the place to be in the late 80's.

We'll miss you!

The most extra-ordinary Arthur tale has to be how he wore a wire for the FBI to catch NY cops taking bribes. Surely one day it will be made into a movie. Scorsese?

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1262248,00.html

My heartfelt condolences to Colleen and Dalia..He was a wonderful, Husband and Father first then a Nightlife legend.

Michael Allen Andersen

wasn't steve lewis actually a drug dealer ???

THE WORLD WAS A GREAT PLACE....NYC HAS NOTHIN' LEFT THE ESSENCE THE VIBE... LONG LIVE EL MUNDO!

I am so very sad to learn of Arthur's death. He was such an intrumental peron in the 1970s and 1980s club scene. Wow...a legand has gone.
So many times he wisked me past the velvet ropes and made me feel important..like royalty...
A king is gone....

Thank you, all of you for your support in this difficult time. Arthur's loss was not only one for us, but the rest of the world as well.
We thank you so very much,

The Weinsteins.

i am sure one of these days there will be a movie made of him.
will miss this very special person.

I first started going to Arthur's club "Hurrah!" in 1978/1979. I saw a lot of historic new wave gigs there.

In 1988, Psychic TV played a last minute organized Halloween party @ the club that Arthur owned at the time called "The World". This was a memorable event mostly due to the sensational acid light show by Captain Wizzo we had brought in.

I remember a few weird things happened that night. Our roadies had asked to borrow my Sony Walkman Pro cassette recorder during the tour and I told them if it got stolen that they would have to reimburse me for it. That night it got stolen and Dickie did reimburse me for it on the following tour. Tom Halliwell mentioned that he went in the crowd and grabbed a guy who was videotaping the gig and tried to stop him and confiscate the tape and the guy said, "I own the fucking club". Tom didn't get the tape. I remember in our tiny closet / backstage room Perry Farrell from the band Jane's Addiction was just squatting in the corner observing us with peculiar curiousity after our performance. Jane's Addiction's first album had just come out. Only the US guys on the bus, Tom, Jim and I had heard of them. An A&R guy from a major record label named Michael Alago came backstage to say how great he thought the show was and showed some interested in us. Gen spoke to him briefly and he left the room. Shortly after that I was in the men's room of the club using the urinal and he came up to use the urinal beside me and asked me why Gen was such an asshole to him. I'm not sure what went down but I told him that Gen wasn't that bad. Boy was I naive....

A few years later when I went solo as a live techno act and played NYC @ "Limelight" in the early 90's I played a Tuesday night that was basically a showcase gig for the group EBN to get signed to TVT Records. I was headlining but you know how those things are. Everybody shows up to see the group about to get signed and I got paid to play to an empty room. What do you expect @ Limelight on a Tuesday night ? However, I had my best friend running around the club videotaping my gig and the lighting guy was amazing. He gave me a lightshow like the club was packed full that made my sedentary performance worth documenting. The lighting guy was Arthur Weinstein.

Turned out my best friend who videoed my gig was living in the Chelsea Hotel and his neighbor on the same floor was none other than, Arthur Weinstein. One day I was walking up the stairs of the Chelse Hotel with my 2 friends and I recognized Arthur and introduced myself as Fred Giannelli from Psychic TV. Arthur exclaimed, "Best Halloween Show in New York City EVER !!" Arthur was apparently impressed with that night too. I knew he had video footage of that gig, so I asked him about it and he said he did have it but his wife was sick and I just told him if he ever dug it out to drop it off at my best friends who lived across the hall from him. I told him I would make sure Genesis P-Orridge never got a hold of the footage and he exclaimed, "I don't even know who that is ! ".

Thank you Arthur, even though I never did get to see that footage. The memories from your clubs are still branded upon my brain.

Hurrah !, The World, Limelight, Club USA...RIP Arthur Weinstein.

telepathic regards,
Ĩed.giannelli

Have been thinking about Arthur a lot. Arthur was like a second dad to me. His daughter has been my best friend for 20 years. Arthur always was very kind and generous with me, he made me feel like part of the family when i didnt have much of a family. He consoled me when i was upset about something, and always told me how smart i was and how much i could do with my life. He just had a way of sizing you up and knowing what kind of person you are. Arthur was also never judgemental, he loved all people and always was willing to give people who had wronged him a second chance. He always said "if someone calls you always call them back no matter who it is." He just always had sayings that were meaningful, and would put everything in prespective. He also made me laugh until i couldnt laugh anymore.

Seeing him ill was very hard, and on everyone who loved him. However, not a day went by that he wasnt surrounded by friends, family, exteneded family. As in life, he was constantly surrounded by friends and family, so was he in death surrounded by friends and family.

Arthut had a tough guy image on the outside, but the Arthur i knew was a loving and caring person, who would give a homeless man his last 2o$. His daughter and wife are also like that.

Arthur truly cared about people, we are all lucky to have known him. He was larger then life, and i really feel his loss greatly.

His brother Martin Passed 3 weeks prior to Arthurs passing and his father also passed away this year leaving his mother without a husband and without two sons.

Please pray for this family durring this time of need. As they need all the prayers and support they can get.

I love you Arthur, you made a huge difference in my life, and you made me a part of your family and for that I will never forget you,

All my love,

Marlina

Almost every night at Enchanted garden where I was a bartender (a club in Queens owned by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager) I would overhear people pestering Steve to take them with him, Steve's reply would always be the same "I can take 3 maybe 4 but any more then that they might not let me in", I thought wow, what club could he possibly be afraid to actually not get in , I ask one of the other bartenders where are they going , he looked at me like I was clueless and said HURRAH's,, I thought wow who ever created that place must be a genius. even Steve is kissing his ass,,Cut to 6 month's later and its Studio 54's 2nd night open , I'm working behind the main bar and about half way through the night this guy saunters up to the bar with what I could only describe as a relaxed coolness' he says to me "stoly and tonic" I get him the drink and say that's $3;50 please, he turns and shoots me a look like I just ask him to stick a needle in his eye and say's "what for" I said, for the drink, slightly agitated he replies ," do you know who I am?" at that point in the night had heard every story in the book why people did not want to pay for drinks, and I was a bit over it, so I looked him dead in the eye's and said "no who the FUCK are you" He looked at me in a warm friendly manner and said 'I m Arthur I own Hurrah" I nearly shit, wow it was him ,the guy ,the one Steve respected, I said shit your right you don't pay for drinks around here ,and from that point on our camaraderie and friendship began'
when I became aware that he was married about to be a father I was in awe of him, he showed that you didn't have to be a suburban dush bag and drive a station wagon to be considered a "family man" he instantly became my role model
they say in life everyone has one true love, well I think the same can be applied to friendship, and he in my life had been that one true friend , sure I have other friend’s and will continue to make new one’s but none will ever have the same importance or be as special as he was to me.over 30 years we had been through allot together, illegal clubs ,legal clubs,, all types of adventures, but what was constant though out was his caring and love for me that always showed, he was like my father ,brother and son all wrap up in one person,, I miss him dearly,But the good news is that people only die when you forget about them, and any one who had contact with Art will never forget him Iv now tagged him in my mind as the "Immortal One",,, at that Art would have said "SHUDDdddd DUPppppppp your making me sick...

I Miss Ya Buddy :0)
Your forever in my heart

1972 I met him on Times Square, doing the largest Billboard then for the Rolling Stones.We became friends for many years, then living with him in his 15th street loft with his wife Colleen, Dahlia and there eight Sulukis.
What a great family they are.Tolerance, creativity
courageous, these were some of my teachers
I will never forget.

christian piper artist

Arthur and I went to the Ritz one night in 1979. He took me upstairs to the back bar, where Scottie Taylor was pouring drinks. Afterwards I walked the two of them to his loft at the Jefferson Theater. I broke some discarded fluorescent tubes in the vacant lot next door. Scottie warned Arthur that I was crazy. Arthur said I was fine and later hired me to do the door at the Jefferson and the Continental. He was always seeking the best in the most unusual places and people. Arthur was more than a movie. He was real life. Art will be missed by family, friends, and fiends alike

Arthur was a great fighter who never gave in,only saw the best in all, never said no was always there for you. A crazed Yankee fan, would have made a great manager.
When planning Art's funeral I told him we would bring the coffin into the Synagogue for the service, he said don't bother I'll wait in the car.
I'm going miss you like nothing else, will bring the usually next time I see you.
Love you

An old friend e-mailed when I was out of town about the sad news about Art. Unfortunately I didn't get back into town until after the service. My heart goes out to Colleen and Dahlia. I've known Art since the days of Hurrah and all through the Jefferson, World and all the many nightlife ups and downs over the years. Art defined New York Nightlife for many years. We shared a lot of laughs, parties, fun and craziness over the years. And I'll never forget him. After the club days we used to run into each other downtown and he was always intriguing and sardonic and witty and simply Art. Even after his operation, he was as witty and funny as ever. I can't imagine NYC without you Art. love you man, Brian

There was a time when I spent most of my waking hours in nightclubs, working and playing. Many of those hours were spent with Arthur.

Arthur could walk into any empty space and imagine it full of beauty, and fabulous people, and know exactly whose those people should be.

New York nightlife in the '80s seemed like it was the center of the universe (though perhaps the denizens of nightclubs in any era feel that way). Arthur was a big part of why.

My heart goes out to Colleen and Dahlia.

More at http://www.glamourbrain.com/2008/07/morte-darthur.html

Arthur's tribute site is www.myspace.com/arthurweinstein

also we have a tribute site for him on facebook, all you have to do to find him is type in his first and last name, and be a member.

There you will find all the information in one place, and keep his memory alive.

ARTHUR WAS ONE THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE I EVER HAD THE PLEASURE TO CALL FRIEND ,, HE TRUELY ENRICHED SOME MANY PEOPLES LIVES ,, THE WORLD HAS LOSS ONE OF THE GREAT NYC CHARECTERS ,, ILL MISS YOU ART .. DK

Arthur. Say that name to anyone who worked in NYC nightclubs and the recognition is immediate. While I didn't work directly with Arthur, I did work at Limelight for 2 years in the 90s and he was a fixture there. Very funny and warm individual. Even years later in a chance encounter on the street in the EV, Arthur remembered me and chatted for a bit asking how things were and what I was doing.

Now, those of you that worked at Limelight, especially the stage crew, will remember a quite vivid image of Arthur: Pitch blackness. Sudden bursts of light. Hyper synchronization with the music. Blasts of fog. Look UP! There, on the the 3rd landing in the DJ/Lighting booth! Arthur! Leaning precariously over the railing, one hand gripped tight for balance, the other violently slamming the intelli-beam controller like a BMW shifter, eyes bulging, teeth gritted and the ever present pineapple and vodka cocktail by his side. He used to piss us off to no end on some nights. Soon as the last band was done he'd kill the stage lights, plunging both the house crew and band crew into absolute darkness with the exception of his maniacal lights! Try dismantling 4 Marshall stacks on a beer-soaked stage in fog and strobe lights. Classic Arthur on a Rock & Roll Church night!