There's a quaint hidden speakeasy inside this Manhattan subway station — but you'll need to get past its insane waitlist

(Alexis Antoine/ Unsplash)

By Isoken Osagie

(MANHATTAN, N.Y.) There is a 600-square-foot speakeasy discreetly tucked behind a door inside Manhattan's 28th Street subway station called La Noxe.

According to La Noxe's website, the idea for the cocktail bar was "born from a desire to bring Mediterranean energy into a quintessential New York location."

So how do you get there?

Curious visitors will need to get past the lush lounge's 1,500-person waitlist. La Noxe has extremely limited seating and guests have to vie for a spot through their Instagram or most recently, email the team to register interest.

Alright, here are the actual logistics to finding the spot

Instead of heading through the turnstiles at the 28th Street stop on 1 train line, visitors will need to stop at the bottom of the first flight of stairs on the southeast corner of 28th Street and Seventh Avenue.

There will be a black door on the right and guests are encouraged to knock twice.

"No matter how much instruction I give people, they get lost — that’s part of the magic," said co-owner Jey Perie to the Post.

What's La Noxe's story?

According to NBC New York, Perie obtained the liquor license in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He was eventually able to open the bar to the public in October, however, the space is only able to accommodate 10 or 12 people at a time.

Perie told NBC New York he randomly found the location and it was a bit smaller than he expected but still an amazing concept. "No one believed I should do a bar in such a tiny place," Perie said to The Post.

But living in Tokyo for five years, Barcelona and the south of France, Perie knew he could do amazing things with the space and those countries influenced La Noxe's philosophy.

"It really blew up on TikTok," said La Noxe co-founder Perie’s wife, Mariko Gale-Perie, after a video of the unique location was posted to the social media platform last March.

If you don't find luck with La Noxe's complicated reservation process, Perie told NBC New York he suggests taking a chance and knocking on the door — if there's room, "they'll be happy to pour a drink."

Over the decades, the small space has serviced a number of businesses, including a barbershop, a luncheonette, a music studio and, most recently, a massage parlor.

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