I've worked here for a year, and have a generally positive opinion of it. The major problem is the massive amounts of girls that come in each night. They do write a schedule, but it's really more of a suggestion; half the girls scheduled will come in, the other half will no-show; and several other girls will come wandering in to work, which they don't discourage, because so many scheduled girls aren't there. But a lot of girls come in wicked late, like 10:30 or 11, scheduled or no; and when the shift is only from 8-2 on weekdays, and halfway through there's twice as many dancers, it sucks. The manager and the DJ's are pushovers and will very, very rarely send girls home because there are too many on. On weekends, there are usually anywhere from 15-22 girls on, but a good amount of them will just sit upstairs and smoke most of the night. The girls here vary from 3's to 10's. There are a lot of girls who have been here for years, but a lot of new ones will drift in and out. Tip out is pretty decent, anywhere from $20 on weeknights to $35 on Fridays and Saturdays. On weekends the evening shift is 8-4, and you'll maybe be on stage 2 or 3 times. Stage sets are 2 songs, though they'll shorten them to one on weekends if there are too many girls on. You cannot be topless on the bottom stage, and as of recently, you can't come onto the bottom stage covering yourself with your hands--you have to either put your top back on or, if it's long enough, hold it to your chest--no exceptions. This makes it a little complicated to collect tips.
Selling dances can be a little difficult, especially recently with the way the economy is. You have to buy a token from the bartenders and give the token to the DJ before you can take the customer in the back. If they want another dance after the first one, you have to take his money and go get another token. You CANNOT do them on credit, it's not allowed and you will get in trouble, because they do pay attention to how many songs you're in there. One dance is $25 (you get $10 back from the house) and 3 are $60 ($25 back). Tuesdays are 2-4-1 and they are very easy to sell. They'll also do 2-4-1 specials on weekends. Lap dances are low-contact--he can't touch you at all, but you can grind if you want. You're fully clothed in the lap dances, as per NY state law. Most of the guys know the deal with this, only a very few will try to give you shit. There are cameras above you, and the bouncers DO watch them, so you're pretty safe. The bartenders are cool and won't give you shit. The customers can be a little cheap, and it may seem like a lot of girls have regulars who will pay them for talking--but that's not the case. If you see girls sitting with guys at the bar for hours, not dancing, just talking, there's a 90% chance that he isn't paying her shit, because girls here do that. There's not much hustling, it's pretty laid back. You can make a good couple hundred easily on the average night.
UPDATE: It's now January 2010, and I've been dancing at this club since November 2007. As with most clubs during this economy, business is slow, especially since it's winter.
I still maintain this is the best club in the area, but there's definitely room for improvement.
The bouncers are rather lazy and bitch about their jobs a lot. They DO watch the dances on camera, and they WILL go into the private rooms to tell a customer to watch his hands. They seem to be better about this on weeknights than on weekends. As long as you maintain your integrity during dances, and don't give any extras, the bouncers will have your back.
The management raised house fee by $5, so it's now $25 for weeknights and $30 for weekends. And the DJ's and bouncers no longer get a cut of that--it all goes to the owner. They bitch about this.
There are still waaaay too many girls, and the quality has declined. The majority of the girls are NOT attractive. They've either got an okay face and bad body, or an okay body and an ugly fucking face. In some cases, they're just ugly all over. Very few of the dancers put effort into their appearance; on any given night, I think less than half of the dancers have on decent makeup or have done anything with their hair. And if they are actually primping before work, they aren't doing it right. The plus side is, if you're an 8-10, you will REALLY stand out and you can skate by on your looks to a certain extent. The big hustlers, with a few exceptions, tend to be the less attractive girls. So if you're an 8-10 and you HUSTLE, you have the ability to make a decent amount.
Pole is kind of big at this club. Most girls know pole tricks and do them. Lots don't do them well. Stick to what you know you're good at. One of our top girls does almost no pole stuff, and she's hot as all get-out.
There is drama. Some of it involves the manager and the owner, so the drama does have the ability to affect your job. Really mind what you say, and don't get involved, and you should be fine.
Money here is not great. There's certainly potential, but we're not talking a grand a night, especially not this time of year...but you can make a couple hundred easily.
There is no real VIP room...just a little VIP section that the club sells with bottle service, usually via phone. You are not part of that transaction, and no dances are included, and they very often don't tip much, so there's honestly no incentive to sell it. Oftentimes, a customer will buy VIP, then freak when girls won't come in and dance for him if he's not tipping. On the rare occasion that VIP is sold, the uglier, high-mileage chicks tend to invade VIP and stay there, willing to grind hardcore and possibly do other shit for $5 here or there. It's not worth it, unless it's YOUR customer who buys VIP, and make sure he understands the deal beforehand.