The Ritz

The story

MTV made its debut at The Ritz. Jerry Brandt founded the club in 1980 inside the historic Webster Hall ballroom on East 11th Street, and he installed a 30-foot video screen and projector that cost $120,000 — one of the first clubs anywhere to weave screens into the experience itself. That gamble drew MTV close enough to launch there and later air its Saturday-night "Live at The Ritz" series, putting Iggy Pop, Guns N' Roses, and the Cult on television from the same East Village room.