New York leather bar converted to art gallery (2802)

New York Daily News columnists Rush & Molloy report that the Spike, an infamous leather bar of decades past, reopens Thursday as an art gallery, keeping the same name. The new owners are dedicated to presenting cutting-edge sculpture, painting, and performance art, but they also want to honor the memory of the old club--they're putting together a CD compilation of disco tunes that used to play at the Spike, and they've commissioned author Brad Gooch to put together a book and a documentary on the space, which began as a watering hole for longshoremen and meatpackers. The Spike's inaugural exhibition will feature paintings by Tim Case.