USL: Union Square Steps in a New Direction

Nightlife in Union Square is generally geared towards dating. It is tucked between the college atmosphere of NYU and the East Village and the high profile scenes of Meatpacking, Flatiron and Chelsea. It is an area rich with cozy restaurants and tiny wine bars. It is a good place for a couple to spend some time getting to know each other, strolling through the park and dodging the skaters.

But hidden from the main strip of venues on Park Avenue South, beneath the landmark Coffee Shop, a club is growing. Run by Michael Gogel, a veteran of Lotus, Double Seven, Bijoux and Merkato 55, the Union Square Lounge (USL) has the potential to become a fixture in New York nightlife for several years to come.

A flight of black steps leads you down into a dark cave. The main room manages to be spacious and intimate at the same time. The deep brown interior and furniture suck in the minute light given off by the fireplace and sparsely distributed candles. This means that you need to make sure the person you’re talking to is cute before you go downstairs. It’s probably too dark to tell once you’re inside.USL has a tapas menu that offers unique and subtle flavors borrowed from various parts of the world. The music drifts through various forms of house that plays well to the nightlife native, multi ethnic crowd. The staff is laid back and professional but they do strike me as a little jaded. I attribute that to the fact that they are probably veteran operators who have just served one fanatic too many.

The space has definite potential as either a lounge or a club. As it exists now, USL is more informal and relaxed than Olive’s and other union square spots. It is more upscale than Bar 13. Anyone looking for a good alternative to Underbar and Flute would to well to check out USL any week night. What can set this underground venue apart is the adjacent ballroom space. It is a huge separate venue that can accommodate 400-500 dancing, drinking and carousing patrons. While the ballroom space is currently being offered for weddings and corporate events, there are plans to offer nightlife events in 2010.

Whether you need a new place to take a date or you need to hear some house music, USL is worth visiting for a drink or three. If you get there and there is a huge line of dancers standing outside, then you’ll know that Union Square has moved beyond the date scene to emerge as a viable new club area.

Have fun.
Gamal

New York: Good for Singles, Not So Good for Nightlife?

By Gamal Hennessy

When tourists, graduates and other people choose where to visit or live, there are a lot of factors that they can take into account. Forbes, a well known financial magazine offers advice on this subject in the form of its annual list of Best Cities for Singles. The good news is that New York has risen to the top of this chart for 2009. The bad news is that our overall gains seem to come at the price of a weakened nightlife environment. Is NY nightlife really weaker than it was a year ago or does our nightlife have qualities that can’t be measured?

The Forbes Best List for Singles compares U.S. cities across seven different categories including culture, nightlife, number of singles and cost of living. Last year, NYC ranked 8th best city for singles beaten out by cities like Dallas, Seattle and Boston. The reason we barely made it into the top ten was because our cost of living is so high compared to other cities. Our nightlife was ranked number 1, even when compared to nightlife cities like Las Vegas, Miami and Atlanta because the number of venues in New York when compared to the number of singles was the highest in the country.

This year, New York is the top city for single people. Driving this determination is the fact that our cost of living, compared to the average salary for single people for New Yorkers has leveled during the recession. It is still expensive to live here, but you don’t need to be a millionaire to have your own place. The bad news is that the number of venues per capita has decreased from our 2008 numbers according to AOL City Guide.

The basic problem with the Forbes list is the same one that existed when we last covered the story. The methodology focuses on quantity as opposed to quality. It’s fine to count the number of single people or the number of bars in certain cities and rank them based on density, but it doesn’t really take quality or variety into account. Does each city have the same range of nationalities, education levels and backgrounds for singles to choose from when they go looking for a date? Is a bar in Charlotte count just as much as a bar in Vegas because they both serve beer? Is the experience the same when you can walk to fifteen bars in a five block radius instead of driving for 20 minutes just to get to one? If you think about single life by only tracking the numbers, you miss something substantial.

The Forbes study does point out a fact that New York and the nightlife industry needs to focus on. The recession, the SLA backlog and the NIMBY push have led to a consolidation of the industry. We are losing more venues than we are gaining. That means the city as a whole is losing more jobs, more revenue, more taxes and more potential for cultural growth. Our reputation as a nightlife capital can fade away if operators and patrons stand idle.

The Forbes List is not the last word on the health of nightlife in New York City, but consider this; Milwaukee and Portland came in with higher nightlife scores than New York. If tourists and college graduates look for a city to flock to and somehow come to the conclusion that nightlife in those cities can somehow be compared to ours we are going to lose the energy and the passion that those new people bring. Lists like this are not definitive pronouncements, but they are warnings to anyone who enjoys nightlife.

Have fun.
Gamal

Why is New York Dating So Hard?

By Gamal Hennessy

New York is teeming with singles who want to date but dating in New York is often described as a complicated and stressful process. Like other aspects of city living, dating here can be ultra competitive, expensive and full on mental, emotional and physical turmoil. What is it about dating in general and the New York dating scene in particular that makes it so difficult? Is this something we can change?

Personal Issues: Before you can go out there and enjoy the dating scene, you need to take a look at what you bring to the table in terms of expectations, goals and personal baggage. Lindsay Gebhart, a columnist for The New York Examiner says that if you have a superiority complex or you don’t do well in social situations or you are in any other way a “hot mess”, you can’t expect dating to go well for you. And even if you have your life together, you have to deal with potentially obnoxious, socially inept or overbearing individuals once you’re out there and separating the wheat from the chaff can become an occupation in its own right.

Uncontrolled Social Stress: Women engaging in modern courtship have developed certain defense mechanisms to ward off undesirable suitors. Personally, you have learned ways to discourage and reject men who don’t appeal to you. A girl’s social circle can also provide powerful protection from approaching men. Finally, the insecurity and nervousness within men often prevents an initial meeting from even being attempted. Authors like Neil Strauss have made a career out of teaching men to bypassing these social walls. While these defenses are necessary to survive in the modern dating scene, they are often used out of reflex, not out of actual need. You might not be able to turn them off, even if you wanted to.

Economic Issues: If personal issues and your social defenses weren’t enough to worry about, money also provides a big challenge in New York dating. Recent studies from Forbes have suggested that New York suffers as a city for singles to date in because the cost of living and dating is so high. The current economic slowdown only intensifies this situation. Whether you are dating for love, money or fun, a lack of disposable income from both people’s perspective can have a major effect on your dating options.

Safety Issues: Finally, in rare occasions dating in New York can be dangerous. HIV rates are up. Condom use is down here. Although crime is down overall in New York City, personal safety is always an issue, especially with a person that you actually know. It’s hard to let your hair down if you feel that you need to constantly looking over your shoulder.

The New York Dating Mind: Issues of psychology, social barriers, economics, and safety are a part of dating everywhere and the situation becomes even more complex when religion, family interaction, career, pre-existing children and past relationships enter into the picture. But New York might be different primarily because of the perception that many of us bring to it.

New York is the business capital of the world. This mentality spills into our dating scene, making the whole process less about pleasure and more about business. If you go into it from a business mentality, as if every date was a due diligence assignment for a possible merger or acquisition, then dating is work. If you don’t like work, then dating this way is hard.

If you go out on a date to enjoy yourself, then you can enjoy yourself. Yes, dating will still be complicated. Yes, there are things to watch out for. No, every date won’t be fun. But it can be a part of your life that you enjoy instead of being another job. You can’t change the factors that make New York dating complex, but you can change the way you look at the experience and doing that can change how much you enjoy it.

Have fun.
G

Tell us what you think about this article. Leave a comment and speak your mind…

Pride Week: A View from the Outside…

…or Why I Can’t Be a Lesbian

By Gamal Hennessy

I’m not a lesbian. I spent time among lesbians, in their bars and at their parties. I submitted an application and studied for the entrance exam. I had good recommendations from respected and accomplished lesbians. I loved women and I was eager to learn more. I didn’t know it at the time, but I even shared the same brain structure with lesbians.

Even with all this going for me…I failed.

Some would assume I was rejected based on anatomy. I actually think I just couldn’t handle the social pressure.

Some would assume I was rejected based on anatomy. I actually think I just couldn’t handle the social pressure.

There are internal pressures in the lesbian community that I refer to as the “small town” effect. It’s like dating someone in your office, or dating someone in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. The only difference here is that you really can’t quit your job or move out of this town.

Let me clarify; there are only so many lesbians and only so many places lesbians go to meet other lesbians. The community isn’t large, even in a city as big as New York. So if you’re a lesbian, almost every girl you meet already has a connection to you, even if you have never heard of them. They’re already friends, enemies, current lovers or ex-lovers of one your friends, enemies or current lovers or ex-lovers. There is no clean slate. You can’t separate her from her social situation. When you meet her, you have to quickly try and figure out where she fits in the fluid and Byzantine arrangement of women.

If you hook up or date, you might start to share friends and enemies, which can be disconcerting if former friends are no longer welcomed or former enemies are now OK. If and when you break up, the whole structure shifts. New barriers go up, former friendships are strained and who is going to show up at what party now becomes a source of stress as everyone tries to adjust to changing circumstances. Multiply this several hundred times and my little brain can’t handle all the permutations.

Before I submitted my application, I took for granted my ability to date someone who had no connection to me. I could project whatever persona would appeal to her without my past indiscretions getting back to her from someone else. When we broke up, my circle of friends was intact. That doesn’t work here.

Now you can see why I’m not a lesbian. I’m just not smart enough.

Keep in mind I’m not even including the external social pressures on lesbians or the normal issues of education, money, religion, family upbringing and social standing that make any long term relationship difficult. It is a wonder that anyone lasts for any amount of time in this system. This situation might be similar with gay men and bisexuals, but I don’t have any first hand observation of this.

I have witnessed ways around the small town effect, although they are not universally effective. She can find someone hundreds of miles away from where she lives. This will remove her from the network and allow for a relationship to grow without the pressure I just described. The only problem here is the pressure of a long distance relationship replaces the small town effect. She can go online, but the online and offline worlds overlap. The small town effect might just invade her laptop so she can’t escape even if she stays home.

There are girls who make this work and are enjoying the lesbian dating scene in spite of the pressure that we put on them and that they put on themselves. I applaud them for being able to do it. I know I’m just not qualified.

Happy Pride Week
G

Nightlife vs. Real Life

Real life and nightlife are two different worlds that we inhabit. Part of the magic about nightlife is that you can be the person you want to be there. The identity that society imposes on you in real life doesn’t have to apply. Money, looks, personal connections and audacity mean a lot in both areas, but things are more fluid and flexible in nightlife….

NYN Insider

When I started NYN in 2004 I only had a vague understanding of nightlife in the city. I knew it was complicated. I knew it was big. That was about it. I didn’t know where to go, or how to get in, or how much things cost.

So I went out to a lot of different types of places. I kept notes on which places catered to which people. I paid attention to how things worked. I tended bar, I became a DJ, I talked to comedians, musicians, owners and bouncers. And I drank a lot.

Since then, I’ve found out a lot about the different areas of the city and the different types of clubs in each area. Friends, co-workers and random people I never met before found out what I was doing and started to ask me for help when they were planning a night out.

Hey G, I’m taking this girl out for a date. Where should I take her?

My birthday is next week, where should I have my party?

Where is the best place for a drink around here?

What’s the best new club?

I’d talk to them about what they liked, what they disliked, and what was available. The more people I helped, the more people would come to me when they wanted to go out. It happened often enough that I came up with a system to give people choices on where to go and what to do. Then they could make up their own minds and have a good time.

I didn’t consider it a part of New York Nights. It was just something random I did for friends. A couple of weeks ago I started reading about websites offering personal fashion advice. I started thinking; “why not offer personal advice to people who are planning a party?” I’ve got the website. I’ve got the system. All I needed was a name. I decided to call it NYN Insider because it would give people the same insight on nightlife that an insider has.

Now I can do my part to make New York a better place, one party at a time.

Have fun.

G

If you want to take advantage of NYN Insider just contact me.

The NYN Weekly Recap for February 25th 2008

Weekly Recap for February 25th 2008




Connections (New!)
Join the nightlife community today

Nightlife News (New!)
Dating
Free Designer Condoms

Fashion
Personal Fashion Mentors

Government
Lesbian Mayors

Special Feature
A Primer for Meeting People

Club Report
Inn LW12, Mansion and Socialista

Regular Features
Locate Any Type of Bar in the City

Find all the Major Nightlife Websites in One Place

Real Time Traffic and Weather Links

A Primer for Meeting People

By Gamal Hennessy

The Third Article in our Love & Lust Issue Tackles the Eternal Dilemma of Meeting a Prospective date.

Finding the Right Valentine’s Day Spot

Special Feature
Finding the Right Valentine’s Day Spot
By Gamal Hennessy

Next week is Valentine’s Day. If you don’t have a valentine, you don’t have very much to worry about. Go out, party and try not to stare when you see couples making out or fighting in public.

If you do have a valentine, it’s a little more complicated. You want the night to end with the making out, not the fighting.

How do you do that?

Well, nothing kills romance faster than two people in a place they don’t want to be, doing things they don’t want to do. If you want to end up in a lip lock rather than a headlock, let me try and help you out.

Read all about it in Finding the Right Valentine’s Day Spot from New York Nights.

Cougars, Connections and Giuliani's Other Failure (Nightlife News)

Nightlife News for February 5th, 2008
By Gamal Hennessy

Dating
Turning the tables on the Sugar Daddy
Robert Campbell: Reuters
The image of an older man dating a younger woman isn’t that unusual. Using money and status and pursue a younger woman is also an accepted social practice. But what happens when the tables are turned? How do we view older women who use money, experience and status to pick up younger men?

Government
Is Times Square Smut Free? Not Really.
Keith Richberg: Washington Post
When Rudy Giuliani ran for President his main claim to fame was his experience as Mayor of New York. He was here during 9/11, so he should be President in a dangerous new world. He stopped crime and cleaned up the smut on 42nd Street, so he had the moral character to be President. But the reality of the situation could be that Giuliani didn’t mastermind the purity of 42nd Street and even if he did plan it, he didn’t succeed in cleaning the place up…

Special Announcement
New York Nights Adds Connections to the Magazine
Gamal Hennessy: New York Nights

New York Nights readers are being given the first chance to join a new social network devoted to nightlife. The service is called Connections and it is available starting this month.

Use the Logo to read more on these stories…only from New York Nights

Nightlife News for December 11th 2007

Nightlife News for December 11, 2007

Drinking
Buy Your Friend a Drink Launches In Time for the Holidays
(Press Release)
If you can’t figure out what to get the party animal on your holiday list, BYFAD has the solution. Instead of giving them a gift certificate for a store that they will never use, you can give them a gift card than can be redeemed at the bar.

Music
The Evolution of Dance Music
(Kate Spicer; Times Online)
Hip Hop has been the dominant music genre in clubs for the past few years. Not only has it ruled over the traditionally hip hop spots, but as more of the Top 40 charts are dominated by rap and rap fusion acts, more of the mainstream venues are almost pure hip hop factories. But New York, along with other international cities, is home to a new era of dance music.

Dating
Study shows singles do better in New York
There have been quite a few articles written about the demise of New York nightlife and the rise of cities like Atlanta, Las Vegas and San Francisco. However, a recent survey shows that New York is still the center of the universe when it comes to bars and nightclubs, especially if you are single.

Use the Banner below to read these stories in the December 11th Edition of Nightlife News…Only from New York Nights

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (Nightlife News)

Nightlife News for October 16th, 2007

Madonna’s New Deal Could Mean a Change in Ticket Prices (Vinne Tong- Associated Press) The big news in music last week (after Radiohead’s pay what you want announcement) was Madonna’s move from Warner Music to Live Nation. The $120 million dollar deal gives Live Nation 360 coverage of Madonna’s work. They will handle her records, merchandise, and most importantly her ticket sales. Ticket sales are a major source of revenue now that the sale of actual music has been undercut by the internet. The rise of Live Nation also increases competition for ticket powerhouses like Ticketmaster and Clear Channel, but it’s unclear whether all of this will mean lower ticket prices when we decide to hit a show…

CMJ Kicks Off This Week (Melena Ryzik-New York Times) CMJ was once billed as the music festival where an unknown band could get in front of a legion of industry king makers and prove that they could be the next big thing. Now, with record companies losing big acts to innovative distribution models (see Radiohead, Madonna & Prince), loss of market share from file sharing and online stores, CMJ is evolving into a more of a networking, community building event. There will still be hundreds of bands playing in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey from now until Sunday. There is still the chance that some band that plays tonight will be on the cover of Rolling Stone next month, but the CMJ is changing, just like the rest of the music industry.

Gray Rape: The Line Between Sex and Rape? (Sewell Chan- New York Times) If you are too drunk or high to form words, or remember anything that happened to you, can you consent to sex? If you can’t consent to sex, and someone has sex with you, did they rape you? These questions were raised by Laura Sessions Stepp in the September Issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. The situation is currently being referred to as ‘gray rape’, even though it is not a new phenomenon. The use of narcotics and spirits to lower sexual inhibitions might be as old as liquor itself. I wouldn’t actually be surprised if men in pre-historical times invented liquor just to get women drunk. The confusion with gray rape among lawmakers, police, and anti-rape activists stems from the rising sexual freedom among women. While the definitions of rape have not changed, behavior among men and women has, making things about as confusing as waking up in bed next to someone you don’t even remember meeting…

Gamal

Nightlife News for October 11th, 2007

Nightlife News for October 11, 2007

Hell’s Kitchen becoming new gay haven? (Dan Allen- OutTraveler.com) While the West Village and Chelsea are considered the foundation of gay life in New York City, changes are taking place. As the NYU glacier moves in from the Village and B&T crowd make more in roads into Chelsea from the Meatpacking District Hell’s Kitchen (or Hellsea, or Clinton or NoChe depending on who you ask) is becoming the new focus point for the LGBT population. Since some of the biggest club trends follow them around, don’t be surprised to find the hottest spots in the city here very soon.

Miller and Coors join forces (Andrew Martin- New York Times) There has been a major shift in the Beer Wars (you didn’t even know we were having a beer war, did you?). This week Miller, the number 2 beer distributor in the country, and Coors, the number 3, have joined forces to become MillerCoors. The new entity is expected to generate 6.6 billion sales every year(which by the way is more than the GNP of Fiji). What does this mean to you when you get to the club? It will probably mean less selection and higher prices if the deal goes through since Busch and MillerCoors would have 80% of the US beer market and can effectively squeeze smaller players out.

City Launches Multimedia Project to Promote NYC (Press Release) New York City is trying to attract 50 million tourists here by 2015. In an effort to draw more people in, the city has announced a long term ad campaign that will stretch from Boston to Pretoria, and include TV, billboard and online advertising that showcases what New York has to offer. The New York City tourist website has been revamped, with a search engine powered by Time Out New York. Of course, nightlife will be included in this push, but it doesn’t look like it will be pushed very hard. The nightlife section of the site is painfully short and there isn’t any mention of all the clubs they’ve closed or refused to let open over the past couple of years. I guess that’s not good for business…

Have fun
Gamal
gamal@newyorknightsonline.com

The Reasons We Go Out (A NYN Editorial)

By Gamal Hennessy

People usually have reasons for why they do things. We go to work to make money. We eat because we’re hungry. We fall asleep on the train because we’re tired. We may not consciously know why we do certain things, but if we think about it, we can usually figure out the reason.

So why do we go out at night? It can deprive us of sleep, money and the chance to watch reality TV if we don’t turn on the TiVo. We put something into nightlife. Do we get anything out of it?

I think there are as many reasons for going out as there are people who go out. But after three years of non-scientific, anecdotal, and random observation, I’ve come up with seven broad categories to define why we go out. Six of them can be lumped under the concept of ‘having fun’, and one is just closer to work (but much better than being in the office). Take a look and figure out which category fits you best.

Consumption: (The things we take in)
For some people its beer. For others it’s dirty martinis. Some of us want to eat and some of us want things that the DEA would bust you for. It doesn’t really matter what your particular poison is, a big part of nightlife is about eating, drinking and smoking freely. The reason wine bars, micro brew bars, and hookah bars do so well is because we are willing to pay to satisfy our hunger to imbibe.

Connection: (The people we meet)
You meet a friend at a bar for a drink when she wants to talk. You go out for happy hour after work with your co-workers to bitch about your boss. You might have girl’s night out once a month. You might cruise the hotels bars for cougars. Humans are social creatures. We have a need to connect with one another. At work and at home, you are constrained in your behavior and limited in the people you can interact with. When you go out, the walls come down. You can talk and act more freely. You can meet people for a minute or forge bonds that last for years. The connection might be intense or shallow, but the energy is different at night.

Entertainment: (The things we see and hear)
The chance to see, hear or feel something is a huge part of nightlife. You might be listening to an unknown comic or garage band one night and part of the insane crowds at a Police or Danny Tenaglia concert the next night. Entertainment can be something as innocent as watching a baseball game at a local bar or as corrupt as the champagne room at a local strip club (actually, it can get worse than that, but you get the idea). It’s been said that one man’s porn is another man’s art, and no where is that more true than New York at night. What you want to see and hear at night actually says a lot about how you see yourself as a person.

Flash: (The wealth we display)
There are people who want to be seen spending big money on table service. They want you to see their Mercedes SUV. They want to drop a couple hundred on a cover to a place the rest of us may not be able to get into. The idea of a discount or happy hour makes them cringe. Why? Because they are living the glamorous life. Consumption here isn’t as important as being able to afford the consumption. If you have the money (or just want to look that way) you want the car, the clothes and the Grey Goose. What better place to display your status than in the clubs?

Obligation: (The social debt)
There are times that we go out when we don’t really want to. The client is in town from Kansas. Someone has to take them out. Tag, you’re it. You’re girlfriend’s brother is having a birthday party. She’s going, so you’re going. Tag, you’re it. You’re friend just got fired, dumped, rejected for the cast of Real World 37. They want you to meet them for a drink. Tag, you’re it. This is the only reason for going out that might not be fun, but compared to being stuck in your office or bored at home, it’s not that bad, is it?

Release: (The temporary escape)
Sometimes you need a break. You can’t sit in your cubical anymore. If your boss calls you one more time about TPS reports, you’re going to cut someone. You’ve tried to like Deal or No Deal and its just not working for you. You need to dance. You need to spend time with your friends. You need to get away from the desk and the Blackberry and the TV for a few hours. Going out isn’t as long as a vacation, but you don’t have to get frisked by Homeland Security to get into the club.

Sex: (The common theme)
Expressions of sexuality can be found in almost every aspect of nightlife. The clothing is tighter and more revealing. The conversation has more carnal energy. Inhibitions are lowered with alcohol. The movements on the dance floor don’t leave anything to the imagination. Nightlife is a sexual metaphor on a city wide scale. It can be simple or elaborate, fun or dangerous, satisfying or forgettable, mysterious or revealing, expensive or cheap, all at the same time. Maybe that’s why so many people keep coming back to it night after night.

Of course, many of these categories overlap. Any of us might have several goals on any given night, making any club night an exercise in multi-tasking. But if you think about why you go out, you’ll have a better idea of what kind of place you want to go to and finding the right place for you will be much easier.

Have fun.
Gamal

The Art of Happy Hour (An NYN Special Report)

By Gamal Hennessy

There are a lot of profound and complicated issues in the world today. Understanding happy hour isn't one of them. Happy hour is actually a place where we can go to get away from work, school, home and the stress of our every day lives. Life is meant to be easier (and cheaper) during happy hour.

Like anything else, you can enjoy happy hour more if you know just a little more about it. And since you don't read New York Nights for coverage of the 2008 presidential race, this is probably the proper forum for this discussion.

Happy hour in New York usually starts around 4:00 PM and ends around 7:00 PM. While the majority of bars, pubs and some early opening lounges have some kind of happy hour pricing, most nightclubs and lounges don't either because they aren't open during that time slot or they don't make their money off that kind of volume.

The classic business rule says buy low and sell high. But a bar during happy hour works on a slightly different principle; it's buy lower and sell low. Often, their goal is to serve cheaper well liquor at reduced prices in the hopes that people will stay after happy hour is over (when they will start paying full price for drinks) or reject the well liquor for top shelf spirits (and agreeing to pay higher prices), or order food (which may not be discounted). As a business, a bar exists to make money. Happy hour gives them the ability to bring people into the bar during a time when it would otherwise be dead.

That's great (for the bar) but happy hour can cause its own share of problems. The main potential problem is overdrinking. This can lead to illness, hangovers and questionable decisions made under the influence of alcohol (if you don't believe me, just think about the time your friend told you the story about how he woke up next to that midget after going to happy hour. You don't want to be that guy.)

Happy hour is still a great place for pre-parties, after work meetings, or just for those people who don't want to pay $10 for a drink. The question is how do you satisfy your need for inexpensive drinks and let the bar satisfy its need to make money?

We've got a few tips that might help you navigate the treacherous waters of happy hour without injuring your wallet, your liver, or your reputation.

1. Happy hour times can vary. Ask the bartender or waitress when you get there when happy hour ends, so you're not drinking up a storm after happy hour is actually over.
2. Some places offer special drinks during happy hour that go beyond well liquor. Again, it pays to ask questions.
3. If your happy hour spot offers food, get some. It can help you deal with your the increased alcohol intake.
4. Make drinking part of a larger activity. Maybe you're playing pool, or watching the game, or talking about what an asshole your boss was today. It doesn't matter. If you drink while doing something else, you can have a good time for less cash. If you're just drinking because it's cheap, don't be surprised when you're dry heaving over the toilet.
5. Bring friends. Happy hour is early enough for the B&T commuter to have a drink and still catch her train home. It's usually cheap enough for the intern or the student to drink without forcing themselves to eat Ramen noodles until they get paid again. You can use happy hour to connect with people that you won't see in the clubs on the weekends. An added benefit is the more people you bring to the bar, the better the bar does in terms of money, and the better they feel about you. This can lead to good things later. It always helps to be in good standing with your regular bartender.
6. If you are staying at the bar after happy hour is over, try to close out your tab and start a new one. This will help to remind everyone you're with that the prices have changed and it avoids any potential problems with your bill later.

Happy hour can easily live up to its name with a little planning and a couple of questions. Whether you just grab a drink before watching Survivor: China or you're having a pre-party before a long night on the town, happy hour in New York can be the best way to start the night.

Have fun.
Gamal
gamal@newyorknightsonline.com

Finding Your Nightlife Style (A NYN Special Report)

...Only from New York Nights

Nightlife News for September 25th, 2007

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We Help You Find the Perfect Drink... and Cabfare.

Find out all the tools you need for the perfect night in the September 20th edition of Nightlife News!

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New York Nights Launches Nightlife Lifestyle Portal

For Immediate Release

New York, September 14, 2007 Online magazine New York Nights www.newyorknightsonline.com launched to the public today. Its perspective and content sets it apart from its competition and builds its reputation as a nightlife expert.

New York Nights (NYN) is a nightlife lifestyle portal. It covers the people, issues and trends that impact the bars, lounges and nightclubs in the city. This week’s launch offers a variety of articles targeted to both the frequent and occasional bar patron.

Gamal Hennessy, President of Nightlife Publishing, sees NYN as a new source of information on an exciting, but often criticized, topic. “New York nightlife is a constantly evolving source of entertainment and popular culture that often suffers from a one sided image in the general public.”

NYN offers a variety of different content to encourage a more complete view of this environment. The Trends section will have in depth articles, interviews and advice on getting the most out of your nightlife experience. Nightlife News will provide a central hub for stories that come out of or influence the bar and club scene. Connections will be a social network specific to nightlife. Updates will offer links to local weather and transit information. Finally the Bar Locator will be a location search engine that allows users to search more than 1,700 locations and find exactly the type of experience they are looking for.

“Our goal is to be more than a listing of specific events, more than a tabloid for celebrity club hopping, and more than a general entertainment magazine with occasional club stories. We want to deliver a magazine that enhances your nightlife experience.”

For more information, visit www.newyorknightsonline.com or contact Gamal Hennessy directly at gamal@newyorknightsonline.com

About Nightlife Publishing:
Nightlife Publishing is a New York based company and publisher of New York Nights. Our operational focus is the development of content related to local bars, clubs and lounges. The major area of emphasis is currently online and we have plans to move into mobile content delivery in the near future. Our long term strategy is to develop the NYN brand in New York and then expand our coverage into other major nightlife cities worldwide.

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All this week from New York Nights

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