Galaxy 45

Isn’t this place closed down already?

I’m not really into karaōke but I’ve been to my fair share of them and this was probably the worst place I’ve been.
As my group and I ventured down the steps and proceeded into this place, my nose gave me an indication of what was to come for the rest of the night.
The first room we were led to smelled really bad. It was musty, damp and had a lingering odor like a bathroom. Did someone pee in the corner?
We asked for a room change immediately and was led to another room in the back. Not much improvement except it didn’t smell as bad. It got slightly better with the A/​C or maybe we got used to it.
Ambience aside, it took us a while to figure out the remote since none of us read chinese. Eventually we had to buzz for help. The song selection was pretty bad if you can only read/​sing in English. It was also hard to navigate. The rest of my group ended up singing Chinese songs and had no complaints though. The sound system was kinda bad and at times, had a faint humming sound. It bothered us, but to be honest, we werent planning on staying more than an hour and we wanted to sing and drink before our hour was up rather than moving around.
Rooms cost about $ 35 per hour on weekdays and $ 50 per hour on the weekends. This includes whatever drinks you want as long as it does not exceed the hourly rate you’re paying. In other words, $ 35 worth of drinks are included if you are using the room for an hour on the weekdays.
Service was kinda spotty. Initially, they came right away when we buzzed them but towards the end of the night, it took them longer. They weren’t exactly friendly or mean. Rather stoic and devoid of any expression.
In the end, we enjoyed each other’s company but were glad to get out of there.

This Karaōke bar is located in a basement next to Green Tea Café. The décor is a basement setting as all the pipes are visible yet dirty and dark. There is a button to push if patrons wish to order drinks to signal the staff for service. It’s a button not an phone intercom as their system is outdated. The staff is very disgruntled and gives a rude scowl look upon serving patrons’ orders. I’m assuming Galaxy 45 is one of the oldest karaōke bars in Chinatown based on their outdated equipment and physical appearance/​décor.
The rooms are too small to contain our large Cantonese Meetup of twenty-​five members and my other Asian Facebook group of approx. twenty. There are insufficient coat racks/​hooks. The sound system is not the greatest. The remote control are entirely in Chinese as well as the monitor to input the songs. Upon request, patrons must ask for the song list book if one were to select songs rather than flipping the annoying monitor. The monitor, if one can figure how it operates, displays the song list in the order entered in the queue. Galaxy 45 staff does not explain how the controls are operated thus patrons will have to rely on their Meetup group, Facebook leader or someone who can read Chinese for instructions.
On another note, Galaxy 45 has a very comprehensive Cantonese and Mandarin song list. This however, compromises for the lack of English songs plus lack of updated English songs, as there were many artists like Alanis Morissette; Jewel; The Smiths; Akon; Annie Lenox et al. missing in their inventory song list. Oddly, Galaxy 45 have Rihanna’s «Umbrella» and Bee Gees’s «Tokyo Nights» which not many Karaōke bars do not have. In addition, the song titles and lyrics have a gargantuan amount of spelling errors and typos for example: «From This Moment On» by Shania Twain is listed as «From This Moment No.» The song list book is in no logical order as it jumps from English to Cantonese and back to English. The song list book font size is microscopic which one needs a magnifier to read.
The artist name does not appear next to the song name, which «MTV» is the substitute rather than Cyndi Lauper for «Girls Wanna Have Fun.» This does not give the artist/​performer any creditability, plus patrons would not know if it is an original version or a rendition to sing.
Disappointedly they do not list all the greatest hits from artists as only U2’s «Beautiful Day» was the only song in their inventory thus eliminating «Elevation»; «Where the Streets Have No Name» etc.

This place barely deserve my 1 star. it karaōke place has been in chinatown for years as long as i could remember. therefore, place is old. stereosystem isn’t great. SONG selection. most important thing for a karaōke place. NO GOOD. not up to dated song selection.
I wouldn’t recommend people go there with a choice. they overcharged us one time with absolutely no service. I mean NO SERVICE. no drinks no NOTHING.
Summary 3 words. DON’T GO THERE!!!

Everybody does their karaōke a little bit differently and this seedy longtime Chinatown KTV is similar to the ones in Flushing and perhaps even the ones in China. It’s not as upscale as Japas or even as neon-​loving as Korean Noraebang places, but an underground rat hole with a few rooms and a hostess.
The song selection here is great, for those who know Chinese that is. For all of those who love latest Jay Chou or Wang Leehom hit to the classic ballads of Andy Lau or Jacky Cheung can find them here. Even the super classics of the 70s and 80s with Roman Tam, Anita Mui can be found in their extensive collection of Chinese songs.
It seems they have an updated Korean selection as well, which is just a bit better than their (lack of) English songs. Cheesy hits from infomercial collections are likely to be here, but it seems nothing after 2005 exists in their sticky books.
The décor of the place is a little off. On one hand its got neon floors and reflective wall paper with metallic ladden furniture (stools /​chairs /​tables). Then on the other hand has tacky polaroids, wooden doors, and suspect bathrooms to boot. The rooms are of a decent size with capacities ranging from 5 – 15 and are all accessible from the front door almost immediately, leaving very little privacy especially for the party room out in the front.
Wait staff seems pretty limited here as there is usually a hostess in the front and perhaps a couple of waiters in the back. A full bar isn’t available and neither is public karaōke. Prices are per room ($ 100 per hour in the big room for example), which is nice for bunching up a crowd but not so great for comfort.

This is perhaps the longest running KTV spot in Chinatown vicinity, recently another company opened up right next to this one.
With all the glamorous KTV’s/nightspots in Flushing vicinity — this one is actually not bad. Very small, about 5 rooms total. 3 out of the 5 rooms are very small rooms. You do enjoy your privacy, and the rooms are soundproofed well. Seats are comfortable enough. Underground and dark dark setting.
As for the songs, last time i went 2 years ago, they still had outdated English songs (with the typical NSync, Spears, BSB, etc) but the most recent Cantopop songs/​Chinese music.
Very little drama here from my experience and pretty civilized, patrons just come and sing and go along their own business. There’s also a small bar, where you can lounge a bit.
Price is decent (haven’t went here for a long time so don’t know the price now), beer/​liquor of course is overpriced.