Though the places that made up the 1980s nightlife scene are now shuttered, the legacy of venues like Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel live on. Greenwich Village bookshop Left Bank Books is preserving history with a limited-time display of never-before-seen letters, photos, diaries, and ephemera from the days of the Limelight nightclub and the era of Club Kids.

Located in Chelsea, the facade of the Gothic Revival church where Limelight once came to life every night still remains. Peter Gatien, the owner of four prominent New York clubs and dubbed “King of New York clubs” in the ’90s, was the mastermind behind the club’s opening in November 1983. 

Native New Yorker Claire O’Connor was hired by Gatien to do publicity for the club, and her diaries from assisting him and following his personal life closely display the high status the Limelight was reaching in its prime.

As a stomping ground for the beginnings of the Club Kids where edgy nightlife promoters developed new outlooks on art and culture, Limelight and Gatien’s other spaces became havens for queer and marginalized people to live authentically and create a new club culture. 

The centerpiece of Left Bank Books’ exhibition, however, is focused on the 1980s clubbing subculture’s dark turn into drug abuse. Club promoter Michael Alig had murdered a Limelight drug dealer because of a drug-related dispute, and in turn, Alig wrote over 40 letters detailing his legal struggles and reflecting on the Club Kids scene. 

A selection of Alig’s letters, along with O’Connor’s own memorabilia, is now on view at Left Bank Books through November 23, 2025. Left Bank Books’ exhibition can also be viewed online at catalogs.leftbankbooksny.com/limelight/.