NYC's Toughest Doorpeople Share All Their Nightlife Secrets

On a Saturday night back in March, a long line had formed deep into Chinatown with people trying to get into the packed rooms at Le Baron. Somehow after years, the turnout was still this incredible, and the crowd was a perfect blend of people. That's thanks in part to Steve Collins, one of the most recognizable faces at Le Baron team after Andre Saraiva and Tommy Saleh. Steve previously worked at hotspots like Kenmare, Riff Raff, Tenjune, and Red Egg, where he came to know the eclectic mix of artists, DJs, models, and socialites that have populated the hazy Chinatown den for years. What has been your favorite event that Le Baron has hosted so far? When me and Julio first did our 'One Night Stand' party in 2013. We hosted, we both got to DJ, it was the first time we had Q-Tip on the 1s and 2s, Erykah Badu DJ'd...we had a huge crowd of people. What is your favorite night of the week at Le Baron? I would most definitely say Friday. Mixed crowd, a huge selection of people, that's the main thing to me. Before you started working in nightlife, what was your favorite club to go out to? Shadow Nightclub. Anything that was smooth and relatively easy and not rough or anything. What do you do in your personal time when you aren't working the door? I'm thinking of new ideas that I can come up with to make things easier for Le Baron, and also hosting different parties. I did a party at Santos Party House with Dj Ralph McDaniels, and it was an old school hip hop party.