10 New Venues in New York for 2019 Fall Meetings and Events

Ushering in the next era of the Museum of Modern Art, the New York institution will debut a renovation and expansion this month that adds 40,000 square feet of gallery spaces, new space for education programming, and a sixth-floor lounge and terrace, a first-floor lounge with views of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, and more. Closed since June, the Midtown museum took over space that used to house the Folk Art Museum and integrated it into its existing building on West 53rd Street. The $450 million project is by architects Diller Scofidio & Renfro with Gensler.

The Midtown East space that once housed Le Cirque is now Hutong, an upscale Northern Chinese restaurant and bar. It's the first U.S. restaurant for Hong Kong-Based Aqua Restaurant Group and offers a menu with dim sum including Wagyu beef millefeuille and lobster squid-ink dumplings, rice and noodle dishes, and roasted Peking duck carved tableside. The glamorous Art Deco space covers 19,000 square feet across two floors. The second-floor private dining rooms—reached via a spiral black-and-white marble staircase—can be used individually to seat 10 to 16 guests or combined to hold 52 seated or 110 standing guests. For buyouts, the space holds 500 guests for reception-style events.

The dedicated meeting and conference venue company Convene has opened a new Manhattan location at 605 Third Avenue, blocks away from Grand Central Terminal. Spread over 28,000 square feet—including a 2,200-square-foot terrace—the seventh-floor space features ample natural light and amenities including unlimited snacks and drinks. The largest space, the Forum, holds184 people theater style and can be divided for smaller gatherings. The Gallery, with industrial chic polished concrete floors, holds 150 people. There are also smaller spaces and a 14-seat boardroom. The venue offers built-in audiovisual equipment including large projection screens for presentations and high-speed Wi-Fi. The venue opened in September.

Located in the garment district, Hotel Hendricks opened in September with two rooftop event spaces that offer views of the Empire State Building. The 176-room hotel features interiors from L.A.-based Marcello Pozzi with glam touches like zebra-, giraffe, and tiger-print fabrics. The full-service Paloma restaurant serves Central and South American cuisine and has a rear garden that can be used for events. The restaurant also caters events at the hotel.

Known for its decadently garnished (and Instagram-beloved) milkshakes, Black Tap has expanded its empire with a location in Herald Square. Its CrazyShake milkshakes lineup includes confections like the Bam Bam Shake: a Fruity Pebbles shake with a vanilla-frosted rim crusted with fruity pebbles and topped with a Fruity Pebbles Rice Krispy treat, strawberry Pop Tart, Laffy Taffy, whipped cream, and a cherry. Aside from its treats, the venue serves burgers, wings, sandwiches, salads, and other snacks. For private events, the Lot 15 space that seats 70 or holds 150 for receptions, and the Cassette Room (with a mosaic of cassette tapes and a neon-light-accented boom box on the walls) seats 36 or holds 55 standing. A full buyout seats 170 seated or holds 240 for receptions.

Located in Williamsburg, the 10,000-square-foot Ainslie is many things: Italian wine bar, beer garden, restaurant, and roof deck and bar. The multi-level space retains architectural details of its past life as a wire loom factory including the building's 120 skylights. Other industrial-style details include a 30-foot-wide hangar door that now opens into a walled garden. Chef John DeLucie's Italian menu includes small plates of crispy artichokes and meatballs, several wood-fired pizzas, and heartier fare like pappardelle with braised pork ragu and New York strip steak. The venue holds 340 people overall and offers several spaces for smaller events. The wine bar and main dining area will accommodate 210 guests, a 70-seat back beer bar is connected to an outdoor beer garden, a 60-seat intimate living room lounge is located on the mezzanine, and there will also be a 1,000-square-foot, 50-person roof deck and bar.

Mixing the celebrity sheen of part-owner Justin Theroux with a dive-bar aesthetic, Ray's opened this summer on the Lower East Side. From Golden Age Hospitality, the bar evokes the nostalgia of 1950s Americana through design details such as an old-style jukebox, wood-paneled walls, and black-and-white checkered linoleum flooring. The pool table adds to the rec room feel. The cozy space is available for private events.

Industria has expanded one of its Williamsburg locations with a new, 4,000-square-foot building. Now totaling 10,000 square feet, the building on South 5th Street comprises four studios that can be used together or separately for events. Studios 1 and 2 can be combined to hold 400 for receptions or 200 for a dinner with a small dance floor; studios 3 and 4 hold 200 people for receptions or seat 100 for dinners. A raw space with white walls and polished concrete floors, the venue offers event-friendly amenities like a private loading dock and 25-foot ceilings. There are also two cycloramas for photo shoots.

The aptly named JJ's Hideaway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is an intimate bar and club packed with style. Seating just 14 or holding 75 for receptions, the vivid venue is billed as "a post-punk dystopia" and features a light-up dance floor, hot pink neon fixtures, and exposed brick walls. Then there are the church pews. It's available for buyouts.

A dedicated event venue, Space54 is a Manhattan outpost of the Space venue in Englewood, New Jersey. Designed for corporate or social events, the venue includes two built-in bars and audiovisual equipment including lighting and sound systems. The venue measures 4,500 square feet and holds 265 people for receptions or seats as many as 180. It opened in September.