Shibuya in The City: Stella-A-Go-Go: New York

Most New Yorkers have not spent much time on the block of East 49th Street between 1st & 2nd Avenue, certainly not after midnight. Well we sent the W4 After-Hours Team from our New York bureau to explore:
"From the outside, Stella looks like a non-descript doctors office or closed-down restaurant of some sort. The sign is merely a tiny plaque on the side of the building next to the canopy. After a couple of drunken rings on the doorbell, our crew was greeted by a small Japanese man in tuxedo. He asked if they knew the rules, they said yes but of course they did not. Upon entering, the team were pleased to find Stella to be a rather charming and elegant Japanese strip club. The interior was furnished with comfortable couches, mirrors, chandeliers, a proper bar, and a mini DJ booth manned by another tuxedoed Japanese gent. No loudspeakers, neon go-go signs, or any other sorts of irritating nonsense usually found in a "gentleman's cabaret". The system works as follows: there is a main attraction dancer who dances nude for the amusement of the group followed by more intimate dancers who are requested specifically--similar to a Scores situaton but on a much more reasonable scale. The crew worked the system and had quite a raucous time seated next to a table full of Japanese businessmen. We were told that much more than stripping and lapdances was thought to be available at Stella, but after our group of gringos noticed the lifesize neck-to-arse tattoo of a snake on one of their ladies, they thought better to inquire about pay-to-play activities on another night when they were just a little more sober and more prepared for a shootout."
-Yoi Yoru Ken Kouun.
+Stella, 301 East 49th Street, New York, +1 212-750-6469.
+Also mentioned: Scores, 333 E 60th St, New York, +1 212 355 4051.