Playboy Club and its Bunnies are making a comeback in NYC

Former Bunny Kathryn Leigh Scott has fonder memories of the New York club.

An acting student who lived on her minimum-wage pay, plus generous tips, Scott was 19 when she got the job.

"Yes, it was chauvinistic by today's standards, but back then, one felt protected and there were stringent rules we used to laugh about. It was more paternalistic than chauvinistic," says Scott, now a Beverly Hills resident and actor who starred in the cult television classic "Dark Shadows."She said she was never asked to undergo a gynecological exam and was "treated extremely well.""It was an opportunity and it was fun. You put your school clothes in a locker and put on a satin costume," she says.

Scott, 74, is the author of a history of the Playboy club titled "The Bunny Years," for which she interviewed 300 former Bunnies.

The original clubs remained popular and lucrative for years before faltering in the 1980s. "Bunnies Go From Risque to Passe," read a Los Angeles Times headline in 1986, the year the club there closed as did the New York one. The original clubs were all defunct by 1991.

Changing mores have altered Playboy magazine, too, lately. The magazine, still sold in 23 countries, no longer allows full nudity in the U.S. edition, favoring articles and images of broader news interest. Cooper Hefner, the 25-year-old son of 90-year-old Hugh, is now its chief creative officer.

Some industry experts say there may also be marketing appeal left among millennials, and fans of "Mad Men," a TV show set in the New York where the Playboy Club thrived.

"I spend my days with millennials," says Bjorn Hanson, professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University. "I'd say there will be a large segment of millennials who will be curious enough to try to experience this as lifestyle, not as the Bunny costume — and they won't need to apologize to friends and family for going."The luxury hotel housing the New York club will have 107 rooms. The project is a partnership between Playboy Enterprises, Merchants Hospitality and Cachet Hospitality Group. The club is expected to open later this year, the companies said.

"The only way you could actually do this is, don't call it a new club; call it a museum and display the artifacts and Bunny outfits!" says Greenberg. "There's only one option: If they do it with a wink, a nod and a joke, and you go there to laugh."