TheHot Feet Club was a popular nightclub inNew York City that operated from 1928 until 1933, approximately.
The mob-controlledspeakeasy attracted "some of the best crowds" of the day,[1] such as boxing championGene Tunney and MayorJimmy Walker. Like some other clubs, it was racially segregated, with mostly white audiences coming to see mostly black performers. It opened at 11 p.m. but didn't really get going until later. Some performances were broadcast from 1:00 to 1:30 a.m.
At different times, bands led byOtto Hardwick andElmer Snowden were featured. Some of the greatest singers and musicians of the time performed at the club, includingAlberta Hunter,[2] pianist and composerFats Waller,[3] and jazz drummerChick Webb.[4] With a well-to-do clientele, the performers were well paid, sometimes making $10-15 or as much as $30 in tips per night, equivalent to a week's salary at the time.
The relatively small club was located in a storefront at 142 WestHouston Street, on the north side of the street betweenSullivan Street andMacDougal Street inGreenwich Village, in a building still extant. It was said to be owned principally by Harry Lyons, a reputed gangster fromthe Bronx,[5] although some sources say it was owned by a man named Walsh who was killed by members of theChicago mob when he tried to open a second location for the club there, leading to the demise of the Hot Feet Club.[6]
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