Susanne Bartsch The Queen of New York City Nightlife
Susanne Bartsch stands peerless in her reign over the zeitgeist of New York Citynightlife. ”This book,” she says of her quasi-memoir-photo bookBartschland:Tales of New York City Nightlifeis as much my story as it is of countless other individuals who have been part of it.”
”She is an iconic and legendary woman who has given us decades and decades of the most legendary parties and unforgettable fashion moments,” says one who knows what she peaks: the long-famous muse and model of Thierry Mugler and Joey Arias.Susanne Bartsch was born and raised in Bern, Switzerland and still speaks English in guttural chop suey lingo that has served her well. She moved to Manhattan at the dawn of the 1980s and gave up her life in London and her shop in Chelsea Market, where she sold 40s Bakelite jewelery to the chic, rich Boho hippies of Carnaby Street. Back then, this was the style of swinging London. She moved to the other Chelsea, New York City, for love and never left.
And here she is, almost 23 years later, and still living in the iconic Chelsea Hotel, where she spent the entire early evening this Spring commanding the attention of an entire gym of the hottest Muscle Marys for an epic photo shoot exclusive to PARK. The diva of the night looks not a day older than when she first arrived in Manhattan. Susanne Bartsch went on to demonstrate th night why she is that ageless and fearless and flawless visageQueen of the Night. Two hours were spent vampcamping and living for the cameras with a fabulous entourage of new talent. From the stunning discovery the lithe and hunky Juan ”Lobo” Camillo Cruz pumping iron in couture leather shorts new stars of Bartschland Lola Von Fox and Jaycie O’Dayshe held her ownfter the shoot went on to host the opening night of Season 14 at her eponymous On The Top parties at the Boom Boom Room of the Standard Hotel.Tirelessadd that to the stillresonant accolades for Susanne Barsch.
And unflappable. A week after the PARK photo shoot we are gathered for the first signing of her new hardcover book at the ever-chic boutique bookstore of iconiAmerican fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Let’s say the scene on Bleecker Street that night was like a Downtown Demi-monde version of Bonfire of the Vanities beyond Thunderdome only in New York City. There is no need to meander further let GW get to the heart of the matter with Susanne Bartsch.
GEORGE WAYNE We have to begin with the ‘bloody’- fake blood PETA ambush
your Bookmarc book signing on Bleecker Street this Spring.
SUSANNE BARTSCH – I don’t want to talk about it.
GW- Yeswe musttalk about it, Susanne! The scene unfolding at 6:15 pm on May 23, 2024, was like a Downtown version of Bonfire of the Vanities. It was so strange, so funny and such a ridiculous scene. GW was there watching you preen for the camerasooking ageless, fearless and simply flawless in that sparkly gorgeous The Blonds catsuit in cerulean blue! Vamping it up
with that foam green whiff of voluminous chiffon as the purrfect wraprapture.Then you had the cross-dressing ”librarian”, the Marc Jacobs BookmarcmanagerBenjamin- bearded and prancing around in kitten heels and a lacy, frou-frou top and black culottes- LOL! Passing flutes of Veuve to those who bought your book. You were all so unflappable and oblivious to the huge commotion right outside the door, with PETA radicals screaming through bullhorns and throwing fake blood all over the pavement. ”Marc Jacobs has blood on his hands!” They were shrieking. Clearlyyou must have heard the wail. ”Shame On You Susanne Bartsch’!
SB- It’s really stupid and has nothing to do with me. They have been doing these crazy demonstrations since the Christmas Toy Drive last season. There are so many real animal abusers they should go take that stuff somewhere else. Marc did one show seasons ago with one fur hat for a capsule he did with Dior and Kim Jones. One hat! Twelve years ago! And that’s what they are still creating drama over. It’s just stupidnd I don’t understand it.
GW- GW absolutely relished the moment and was thrilled he had the best perch to document the unforgettable book signing for Bartschland. And so many iconic Downtown egends showed up for you, from Paul Alexander to Stella Ellis toMichael Musto, Christopher Makos Freddie Leiba. There is never a dull moment in the life of Susanne Bartsch. Thats for sure. A week later, we sit in the lobby of the iconic Chelsea Hotel, where you have lived since 1981. You are truly the last of the Mohicans’as it werethe creatives who have lived and thrived from the Chelsea Hotel as their home. With new owners and total redevelopment here. You are truly the only holdout left!
SB- There are still a few of us left here, and I always remember sitting over there over the years (she points to the other side of the room with Ty (Ty Bassett, her former lover, boy-toy) all through the mid-90s…
GW- Speaking of Tywhatever happened to your gorgeous blonde boy-toy from that era of Susanne Bartsch?
SB- He passed away. He died from cancer a few years ago.
GW- Wow. What did I say about the last of the Mohicans? I had no idea.
He was so young! He was your original boy toylet’s be real here.
SB- Yes, he was. It’s funny because the lover who first brought me here, who I lived with and introduced me to the Chelsea Hotel, was a much older guy…
GW- Yes- Patrick Hughes! You came to New York to visit him at the Chelsea Hotel
you arrived on Valentine’s Day of 1981, where he was living, and never left!
SB Yes, and I loved both of them. Patrick still has a painting hanging in the hotel. Back then, the owner, Stanley, would trade art for rent. That was the Chelsea Hotel, then. And then he left, and I stayed! I fell in love with New York.
GW- Ty Bassett was very important to the arc of Susanne Bartsch.This girl was born in Bern, Switzerland and came to New York City from London,where she used to own a store.
SB- I came to New York City for the first time in 1977, and while here, I went to the opening of Studio 54. I hated it. I never liked my first impression and visit to New York City. But I remember seeing Divine in an Off-Broadway play on that trip, and I got to go see Gilded Grape, which is still one of my favorite clubs ever. It was in Times Square, and all the trannies used to go there in the late 70s. But what freaked me out most on that first visit was the skyline and all the skyscrapers. I couldn’t believe it. Even today, when I travel and drive towards Manhattan, I see that skyline.t’s so intimidating, and it makes me so awestruck. hat has never changed.
GW- I know the feeling. Its always exhilarating when you leave town and come back home, and you’re on that road from JFK, and you see the sparkling city we live in and love so much. The bookWhy now? One can’t really call it a memoir, but I guess it is the closest thing we will get to from Susanne Bartsch. It’s a bit facileyou basically breeze through your life. The pictures are amazing, however.
SB- People have no attention span these days so I wanted to make it more about the images than anything else. I guess you could call this book my life in stillsin photos that captured a particular moment through the years. It’s a stroll through the decades.
GW- A quasi memoir, to say the very leastbut a worthwhile document on theimportance of the heritage and work of Susanne Bartsch and her invaluable contribution to the zeitgeist of the night! And you do give much homage to the creative geniuses that have been an invaluable part of the cabine…the entourage and team of Susanne Bartsch: From Mathu & Zaldy to Joey Arias to Amanda Lepore to many others.
She is the Queen! And Bartschland is still ruling the night scene of New York City.
SB- People that inspired me, and so many are not included. The Abrams editors removed many pages and did not tell me. Mr Pearl is not in there!
GWOohnow that is not a good look! Mr Pearl – absolute legend! All your fabulous couture corsets are compliments of Mr Pearl.
SB- I feel terrible.
GW The photos are amazing; my favorites are those from your runway wedding to David Barton. He is wearing nothing but a white bikini thong his tuxedo! Those images are everything even the wedding party. Your look, too!
SB- We were doing a show called Inspiration at the Manhattan Center for all the behind-the-scenes people like Danilo and Todd Oldham to be part of this and speak, and then I just thought, why not just get married? I was pregnant with his child, and we wanted to make it right and legal. It was amazing. Playboy sponsored it, too!We came out at the end and got married. Even Ivana was at the wedding.It’s in a documentary from 2017 on NetflixSusanne Bartsch On Top.
GW The house of Bartsch & Barton is still on top! His new gym, where we staged the EPIC cover photo shootof By David Barton, is incredible.And RuPaul wrote the Forewordgreat get! Come to think of itSusanne Bartsch was certainly integral to elevating the early career of Ru. The days of you having RuPaul be the ”Mistress” Of Ceremonies at the epic Susanne Bartsch parties in the 1990s at the Copahe days when Club Kids took the entire month to plan the look for the party held every last Thursday at the famous Copacabana. The halcyon
Days the Golden Age of New York City nightlife. Much of which you orchestrated.You were the first to help Ru hone his chops as a host and charm a rowdy crowd. He owes you much, too – RuPaul Charles.
SB I first hired Ru for gigs at Savage and then when we took over Copa. By 1992, Ru was the superstar Mistress of Ceremonies. A total natural. A born superstar. We all knew it.
GW- So true! Doing that Thursday night show host was where Ru joined his chopsfor enchanting an audience, but he was doing that with Lady Bunny way back in the days of 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, where GW, the baby boy, was fresh off the boat from Jamaica and a foreign journalism student at the University of Georgiaand where I first met Ru and Lady Bunny! And Michael Stipe and Marc Klein! 1981 in Athens, Georgiathe coolest college campus in America. The heart of the American counterculture during the 1980s was Athens, Georgia! It just happened that was when I chose to go abroad from Jamaica to journalism school! I never knew Athens, at the time, was the nexus of cool Americana. But your life has been the supreme performance, Susanne Bartsch.
SB I do it for the people and my friends. I still live for the reaction from an audience.
GW I have this incredible idea and vision of Bartschland, Lady Bunny, World of Wonder and RuPaul coming together to stage a once-in-a-lifetime Wigstock-like day of pride, live music and celebration and having Gov Kathy Hochul there.And stage this in collaboration with theSoloviev Foundation and their Field of LightHelp make it happen for the Spring of 2025!
SB- I love itlet’s do it!
