Long Island disco fans keep the beat alive at dance events
Cover band Disco Unlimited's Sparkle Sista and Sista Soul perform at Mio Posto in Merrick. Credit: Howard Simmons
When Alysa Liu skated to gold medal glory to Donna Summer’s 1978 hit "MacArthur Park" in the 2026 Cortina Olympics in February, she confirmed what Long Islanders already knew: Disco never died — at least not on the Island — it was just waiting for the rest of the world to notice.
For years, disco aficionados have been keeping alive the dream of those days when Long Island — especially Hempstead Turnpike — was dotted with legendary discotheques like Latique, Penrods — later Zachary’s -- Decameron and Uncle Sam’s, packed wall-to-wall with spandex-clad, big-haired, wide-lapeled dancers under mirrored balls. The dancers are a little bit older and a little less Lycra-ed, and the venues are a little bit smaller, but that irrepressible disco beat still goes on.
“I tell my boyfriend it’s the only thing that makes me happy,” says Darlene DiMaria, 59, of Massapequa, on a recent night at Mio Posto restaurant in Merrick, where she and her best friend, Linda Danker, 61, also of Massapequa, had come to dance and sing along.
Disco Unlimited, a six-member cover band, performs at Mio Posto in Merrick. Credit: Howard Simmons
Disco Unlimited, a six-member cover band that debuted in 2009 and has developed a devoted following on Long Island, was playing a two-hour set, complete with flashing disco gel lights and full-on period costumes featuring leopard prints, gold chains and as many sparkles per square inch as possible.
“We travel everywhere for them,” Danker says. “Staten Island, Jersey, New York City. It’s like family.”
The rhythm that never faded
Disco had its own identity, which included synthesizers, electric instruments and infectious danceable beats with vocal harmonies rooted in R&B, soul and funk designed to make people shake, shimmy and shuffle into the wee hours of the morning.
Mio Posto owner Frank De Pierro has been booking Disco Unlimited four or five times a year since they started. “I had an older crowd and I wanted to give them a show,” he says. “People love disco. People even dress up.”
Disco Unlimited vocalists Sparkle Sista and Sista Soul belt out a tune at Mio Posto. Credit: Howard Simmons
The crowd wears a lot of black and a lot of sparkle. The spandex pants are more likely to be leather and jeans today, but form-fitting clothes, stilettos and gold jewelry are still part of the uniform.
While much of the crowd pressing up to the mobile stage are clubgoers of the past, a new generation is also showing up. Jewelia Calone, 24, is a singer from Lindenhurst who found disco through karaoke. “I just want to have a good time, so when I saw this on Facebook we came,” she says.
The crowd at Mio Posto for a Disco Unlimited show. Credit: Howard Simmons
“A lot of the music I like is disco and I didn’t even realize it,” says her friend Richi McDermott, 23, also of Lindenhurst.
“Like 'Ring My Bell,,” adds Calone, referring to Anita Ward's No. 1 hit from 1979.
A music revolution
Disco started underground in the early 1970s with LGBTQ, Black and Latino artists and DJs creating joyful, pulsing danceable beats with a lot of R&B and soul inflections. Donna Summer, Sylvester and the Village People produced some of the most iconic songs. By 1977, it had gone mainstream with the release of "Saturday Night Fever." By 1979, the backlash from rock fans reached extremes, including the infamous Death to Disco riot at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
But the real death blow to disco on Long Island came from more stringent DUI laws that began in the late '70s, according to DJ Jeff Yahney, a pioneer of the music in its heyday and still spinning strong.
“The clubs closed down because of DWI; I believe that in my heart,” he says. “There was no Uber back then. The cops were outside nightclubs pulling people over. Then when the '80s came, you had AIDS. That was devastating, too.”
New era
Disco retreated to weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, but its fans never forgot. In 2020, Yahney started A Night at Studio 54 pop-up dance parties; he’s done 120 over the last six years, including Florida tours. Open-air South Shore beach venues like The Boat Yard and Salt Shack feature disco nights in the summer, and Mulcahy’s in Wantagh, Plattduetsche in Franklin Square and Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair hold major indoor events. Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair has booked disco-themed concerts. Harleys American Grille on Main Street in Farmingdale pushes the tables aside for Disco Fridays and Disco Brunch on Sundays with DJ Stevie Styles.
At 37, Styles might seem young for the disco era, but he found his way there from hip-hop, via soul and funk. Now his sets of classics spliced with newer interpretations and even newer music pack the house. “I like the new, but there is something about the older music that resonates,” he says on a recent Friday at Harleys.
From left, Anna Marisa, of East Meadow, dances with Michelle Zuckerman, of Melville, at Harleys American Grille in Farmingdale.. Credit: Howard Simmons
Michelle Zuckerman, 57, of Melville, is a Friday regular. “We’re always here with a bunch of people,” she says. “The DJ is amazing. I feel like this is where you let yourself go after a week of work.”
Like at many at disco events, Zuckerman met her new best friend, Anna Marasia, 56, of East Meadow, at Harleys. “Every week is like a friendcation,” Marasia says.
Corey Dickerson, 39, of Hicksville, agrees. “It’s a great spot with a great vibe. It’s old-school music, but also old-school principles. People are more engaging; they talk to each other," Dickerson says. "Social media killed this kind of thing for the younger generation, but this is how it was before the technology.”
