‘It feels new again’: The Sunday day party is experiencing a resurgence

By Scott Enman

New York may have long ago established itself as the city that never sleeps — especially when it comes to nightlife. But in the wake of Covid clampdowns, there’s been a new resurgence of a familiar trend: the Sunday day party.

Sundays have traditionally been a recovery day, a time to lick wounds and send out apology texts. But, more recently, a “perfect storm” of factors — according to DJs, promoters and partygoers who spoke with Brooklyn Magazine — have made it a pivotal party time slot all over again.

“The Sunday day party has definitely become part of the summer in New York experience,” says Andy Pry, founder of the prominent party series Tiki Disco. “Some people like to go sit at brunch for four hours, other people like to go dance.”

Any seasoned clubber knows the long-running parties Mister Sunday and Tiki Disco. Those events started in 2009 and 2010, respectively, but more than a decade later, they’re seeing a new uptick in part due to cultural shifts from the pandemic.

Tiki Disco resident DJ Eli Escobar says the sheer number of attendees post Covid is like nothing he’s seen before as people unleash pent-up energy, adding a tangible spark to the dance floor with every event.

A combination of people wanting to let loose after months of social isolation, a younger crowd coming of age, and a venue shift to the Knockdown Center in Queens has created a “perfect storm” of new people coming out that were “bursting at the seams,” says Escobar.

“We thought we plateaued the years before Covid,” he adds. “But since we’ve come back it’s had a crazy resurgence. It’s a whole new crowd, way younger. I don’t think they even went out because they turned 21 during lockdown. It feels new again.”

The bimonthly party started on Roberta’s patio and has amassed a massive almost cult-like following, consistently packing out the Knockdown Center’s courtyard, The Ruins. It’s not uncommon for regulars to refer to it as “church.”

Around 50 people showed up for the first event more than a decade ago. Now, there’s roughly 10,000 RSVPs on any given Sunday, according to Pry.

“There’s a conveyor belt of youth in New York in a way that you don’t have in other cities,” he says. “Just when you think the crowd might be aging out, the next wave of young people comes in.”

A new dynamic post-Covid where people are no longer commuting to the office on Monday mornings has also increased the popularity of the Sunday party.

And perhaps because of a recent spike in coronavirus cases, it’s safe to say New Yorkers still relish outdoor venues as a way to reduce the spread.

The Ruins, where Tiki Disco throws the majority of its parties, is not your average vacant lot or cavernous warehouse with little-to-no character. The intricate space appears exactly as it sounds, a massive dance floor surrounded by exposed brick walls, crumbling facades and tropical florae. Its neighbor is a freight train line, meaning little to no chance for noise complaints.

Hot Honey Sundays (Photo by Alex Korolkovas)

No bad days for good music
Other promoters have taken notice of the Sunday day party’s comeback.

Enter Hot Honey Sundays, launched in May 2021 on the Greenpoint waterfront. It has since become one of the largest open air dance parties in the city.

Co-founder Deo’Jorge explains that Sundays were always perceived poorly in his home country of Brazil. “It was not a well-regarded day for events,” he says. “It was the day reserved for newcomers, unpopular or failed promoters.”

But encouraged by the success of Tiki Disco and Mister Sunday, and with a venue in place at Greenpoint Terminal Market, the crew threw their first party during the throes of the pandemic. It caught on quickly.

“We made the name our own, eliminating the notion that Sunday was a less significant day where everyone had already had their fun and expended their energy on Saturday or Friday,” he says. “There’s no bad day for good music.”

Public Records in Gowanus has also followed suit, starting its own Sunday series this summer in its new outdoor venue The Nursery. The new space, adjacent to their garden, doubles as a greenhouse and evokes images of European dance floors: think cinder block walls, canopies to shade dancers and a top-tier soundsystem. Events started at the end of May and run into November.

‘Let’s get it all in while we can’
Tiki Disco, Mister Sunday and Hot Honey Sundays are all mostly free, end no later than 10 p.m and have kid-and-dog-friendly policies. Throw in warm weather, extravagant one-of-a-kind outdoor locations, not to mention consistently good house music, and you have a recipe for success.

Longer summer days mixed with people trying to squeeze out the last drops of the weekend also create a unique fleeting energy on the dance floor.

“There’s that element of the weekend ending soon, let’s get it all in while we can,” Escobar says. “There’s a certain magic. You start out and it’s sunny, and then as the sun sets you adjust the mood of your music to the weather, to the time of day, and then it gets dark and people really start to get loose — you get these big moments.”

Ending early allows patrons to be in bed at a decent hour, and it also leaves attendees champing at the bit for the next party, versus a traditional club, where there might be 20 dancers left at 5 a.m.

“When we finish, it’s fully packed and people are dying for more,” Escobar says. “I love ending with that energy. You leave on this high, and I feel pretty damn sure they’re coming back for the next one.”

While some will conserve their bodies, waiting until Sunday to go out, others will choose the hair-of-the-dog approach, continuing the party from Saturday and fighting their hangovers collectively.

“The way I see it, if you’re hungover, you can do two things,” says Meghna Fogla, a Bushwick resident and regular at all three parties. “You can rot at home and watch TV, or you can dance it out a little bit.”

Another draw is a consistent lineup of DJs week in, week out. Aside from Mister Sunday, which will occasionally bring in guest artists, the other two series mostly stay consistent with their residents. This, according to Escobar, creates familiarity and a sense of community.

“Musically there’s a real identity there,” he says. “We’ve grown up with our crowd — that’s 13 years of trust. Why would we fly in a guest DJ to play what they play everywhere else? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Throwing a free party also enhances the crowd (the event organizers get a percentage of the bar sales). “You get a cooler cross-section of New York,” Pry says. “There’s no real barrier to entry. There’s no pretentiousness. It’s come-as-you-are. Show up and do your thing.”

Ultimately though, it’s the beats that bring people back. All three parties play top tunes, the DJs routinely spinning disco and classics, as well as darker vibes like techno and deep house. The full-day events allow the residents to play marathon sets, digging deep into their crates for a wide variety of tracks.

And while the size of the gatherings may have increased, the original principles have stayed intact.

“It’s gone from 50 people in a backyard at a tiny little bar to thousands of people over the course of a given Sunday,” Pry says. “It was a lot of luck, sticking with it and here we are. There’s more people, the sound systems are better, but really it’s just three guys playing music that they like.”

The next Tiki Disco party is September 3. Mister Sunday parties take place every Sunday through October. Hot Honey Sundays events can be found here.