The Shelter

The story

The speaker cabinets at The Shelter were larger than the dancers moving beneath them. That 37,000-watt sound system, installed by David Soto, set the tone for what the club became after Paradise Garage closed in 1991: a sanctuary where race and sexual orientation did not matter. Resident DJs Timmy Regisford, Merlin Bobb, and Freddy Sanon built the place, and their collective of promoters called themselves N.A.S.A. — Nocturnal Audio and Sensory Awakening. By 1992, Newsday had already crowned Moi Renée its reigning diva.