Berry Park, Bia Garden and Bongo

Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

The New York Nights Club Report for August 6, 2009

Opening

Berry Park
(Urban Daddy)
Now that we finally have hot summer days, Brooklyn obviously needs a new beer garden.

Bia Garden

(Thrillist)
Another new beer garden for anyone who doesn’t want to go to Williamsburg…

Bongo

(Thrillist)
Go for the oysters and cocktails after you’ve strolled on the Highline.

Opinion

Drinking on the Job

(The New York Times)
Read professional opinions concerning drinking as part of your professional life.

Hot Girls as an Economic Indicator
(New York Magazine)
Where do all the cute bottle hostesses go when the demand for bottle service dwindles?

Have fun.
Gamal

The Right Side of the Bottle

By Gamal Hennessy

There has been a lot written about how the practice of bottle service has become a scourge on nightlife culture. I know this is true because I’ve written quite a few of those articles myself. The recession has exposed a weakness in the business model that might put some operators out of business. But bottles are still flowing and some venues are thriving from it. So what is it that makes bottle service work for some venues and not work for others? A recent study suggests that it’s the patrons that hold the key to long term success.

Anita Elberse, Ryan Barlow and Sheldon Wong are students at Harvard Business School. They recently published a study called Marquee: The Business of Nightlife where they document the financial success of this long running venue and what goes on behind the scenes to make the venue work. One of the many interesting aspects of the study was the breakdown of Marquee’s bottle service clients. While this group is relatively small (40% of the patrons on any given night) they accounted for 80% of the revenue. And while any one could theoretically purchase bottle service, there were three main groups that Marquee provided this service to. There are celebrities who are so famous that they only have one name (think Diddy, Bono, and Paris). There are Upper East Side socialites who inspired the characters in The Devil Wears Prada, and Gossip Girl. Then there are the professionals who recently acquired wealth and were looking for a place to spend it. The last group has dwindled significantly, but between these three groups Marquee made more than two million dollars in their third year of operation.

The other point of interest in this dynamic is the time it took to cultivate the relationships that made bottle service work. The owners of Marquee, Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss claim to have spent half their lives developing relationships in the nightlife industry, interacting with potential clients in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and using Marquee as a national concierge service for established bottle service clientele. Their main focus was on the client who could consistently frequent the venue over several years, not the stock broker who would spend $100,000 in six months and then burn out. Based on the Harvard study, Marquee’s success is based on a decade and a half of work, not a flashy gimmick.

Marquee connects with people who have money to spend over an extended period of time. Among other things that they do, that practice has kept them running much longer than the average New York venue. Places that try to force bottle service on patrons who don’t have black Amex cards probably won’t last as long in this economy. And patrons who don’t have a name like Bono might want to think twice before trying to live this lifestyle. A prominent promoter I talked to last week explained it very well. ‘I don’t tell my customers what they should do with their money, but maybe the guys coming in from Newark who make $40,000 a year shouldn’t be spending $600 on a bottle of vodka. I think they can have just as much fun running a tab at the bar.’

Have fun.
G

Where’s My Holiday Party?

By Gamal Hennessy

Last year I was offering advice on how to survive your office holiday party. This year the question is “will your office holiday party survive?” As companies fail and the market sinks, the lavish holiday party seems out of place this year. How can you keep the recession from ruining your holiday?

No one is surprised that companies are cutting back on holiday festivities. Event planning firms claim that 81% of all firms are planning an end of the year event. While this is a significant majority of all companies, it marks a 20 year low in end of the year activity, worse than both the period after 9/11 and the bursting of the internet bubble. This decrease in entertainment spending parallels a drop in bottle service that hit the nightlife industry this year as finance firms (one of the largest consumers of bottles) began to fail. Corporate perks are being cut on every level by large and small companies. It is only natural that the holiday party also gets hit.

While the majority of firms are planning a party, that party will not have the same level of extravagance as last year’s party. Many venues that host corporate parties are offering substantial discounts in order to lure budget conscious planners through their doors. Last year I was hired to be the DJ at an ad agency party. I spun in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton on 6th Avenue, ate like a dog and made more money in a couple hours than I do playing all night at a bar. Something tells me that this year I’ll only be making bar money…if I get hired at all. And all those parties I wandered into even though I didn’t work there…that probably won’t be happening very much either.

But our recession does give us the chance to rediscover a fact that all nightlife natives intrinsically know; the price of the party has no relation to having a good time, and having a good time is the point of the party. Maybe you can’t drink so much free Grey Goose and Cranberry that you pass out in your cubicle, but can still enjoy time out of the office with your co-workers and friends. You can still appreciate the things you have instead of regretting parties of the past. And maybe this year you’ll be able to remember everything the day afterward.

Have fun.
Gamal

NYC Poised for Growth in the Nightlife Industry

By Gamal Hennessy

Despite the gloom in the economic press there good things that can come out of the recession for nightlife natives. In spite of the bottle service decline and the community board moratoriums there is opportunity for a revitalized club scene. If recent history is any indicator, an infusion of new thinking can be the bright spot in an otherwise dark period.

From Problem to Playground
To understand the potential for growth, it makes sense to look at a previous crisis. In the late 1970’s America’s dependency on foreign oil spiked and the price of a barrel of oil jumped from $5 to $17 (which doesn’t seem that bared when compared to the price of crude today). That oil crisis contributed to economic malaise of the early 1980’s.

It was during this period that megaclubs opened and flourished. Between 1977 and 1985 legendary venues like Studio 54, Limelight and the Palladium defined nightlife culture. Entrepreneurs from other sectors understood that people need release and escape during periods of economic struggle. The result was a playground for the excessive 80’s that was imitated all over the world.

Fast forward
Today it is housing and credit that is causing the headaches instead of oil. AIG, Merrill Lynch and other investment banks are being torn down and sold for scrap creating a pool of finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) workers looking for a new start. The fall of bottle service is a direct effect of this situation. The closing or repositioning of clubs that relied on this trend is the indirect effect.

But it is in these ashes that a new era in clubs can rise. The credit crunch has had a direct impact on real estate expansion in the city. Many people in the field see an inevitable drop in prices per square foot. As property prices fall and people look to take money out of the stock markets and put them into other investments, you also have a potential pool of talent coming out of the FIRE industries who can translate their skills into the hospitality industry. Rounding out the equation, you still have patrons who have the need for temporary escape from their daily lives. Some experts think that this combination will lead to a new period of growth in the nightlife industry.

Obstacles
Of course, the next Studio 54 isn’t going to just magically appear. Every new spot that opens is still going to have to find a way to get credit, deal with the community boards and police, overcome the jaded malaise of many veteran nightlife natives, compete with all the other clubs in the city and find a way to make money. There are sure to be a lot of failures but there is room for success. It will take creative thinking, personality and financial skill to make the next great spots work, but we have been in this situation before.

In the last few months, promoters have approached me asking my opinion on looking for the best club to buy and different ways invest. The advice I gave them isn’t original but I believe it to be sound. First, find someone who has experience over the long term that you can work with. Second, contribute your expertise and bring your people into the venue. Third and most important, learn how the whole business works. Those steps, a lot of work and some luck can revitalize nightlife in New York.

Have fun.
Gamal

The Right Price for Your Party

By Gamal Hennessy

A wild week is over and you need a drink…or three. The good news is that the federal government paid off billions of dollars of your company’s bad debt, so you still have a job. The bad news is that using the corporate card to order bottle service is not a good idea right now. So how can you put together a party in a club without taking out a second mortgage?




And if you want to find out more about what's going on in New York nightlife, sign up for NYN Insider. It's free.

Putting New York to Sleep (Part 2)

Putting New York to Sleep: The Latest Threat to New York Nightlife

A New York Nights Special Report
By Gamal Hennessy

Part 2: The Present

In our first article we showed how the increased power of local community boards, their desire to recreate the suburbs in middle of the city, and the noise generated from the smoking ban have combined to create animosity between the boards and the nightlife industry. Today we’ll look at how that tension has prompted a new attack on the city’s clubs.

The Other Side of Bottle Service

A Special Report

by Gamal Hennessy

Where Does Nightlife End and the Sex Trade Begin?

An Editorial by Gamal Hennessy

Nightlife News for January 4, 2008

Nightlife News for January 4, 2008

Health
HIV Cases on the Rise
(Sarah Kershaw: New York Times)
The number of new H.I.V. and AIDS cases has decreased steadily in New York City for the past five years among almost every demographic group. However, the number of young Black and Hispanic men who have contracted the disease is on the rise.

Is Binge Drinking a Recipe for Brain Damage?
(Maia Szalavitz: Sixty Second Science)
Did you drink too much on New Year's Eve? If you did, then we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that there is evidence in the medical community that binge drinking leads to long term brain damage. The good news is that the evidence might be misleading.

Promotion
Working to Throw the Perfect Party
(Melena Ryzik: New York Times)
Organizing a party in New York used to be about mixing exciting energetic people with an interesting venue then adding music and liquor. With the rise of bottle service, promoting a party is more about corporate credit cards, celebrities and perceived exclusivity. Now a set of downtown promoters are trying to throw a party that is more fun and less finance.

Use the Banner below to read these stories in the January 4th Edition of Nightlife News…Only from New York Nights

List Your New Year's Eve Event with New York Nights!

If you are a club owner, promoter or performer and you’d like your New Year’s Eve event listed in New York Night’s NYE special report, please send us an email with the following information:

Name of the event:
Web Site:
Address:
Price Range: (please list lowest price ticket and highest priced ticket)
Type of Music:
Special Features:
Contact Information:

The last day for submissions will be Monday December 17th. No exceptions

The Cure for New York Nightlife (A NYN Editorial)

Last week we took a look at the way the nightlife environment has changed from its peak to the situation we have today. This week we find out what we can do to inject new life into the club scene.

Read about it in part two of our editorial “The Cure for New York Nightlife”.



a>

A NYN Editorial (Is New York Nightlife Dead?)

Is New York Nightlife Dead?

(The First in a Two Part Editorial)

By Gamal Hennessy

Rest in Peace?
There is certain level of malaise floating through the city when it comes to nightlife. This general dissatisfaction stems from the concept that the golden age of club life in New York is long gone. You can read it in the club reviews from magazines. You can hear it from people who ran the clubs in the 80’s and 90’s.

They say that the New York nightlife scene is dead.

The evidence to support this concept is pretty strong. Legendary spots like Studio 54, Palladium and Limelight have been gone for years, replaced by theaters and NYU dorms. AIDS and drugs hit the club scene harder than almost any other segment of society and killed many of club pioneers. Major acts like Bob Dylan or Madonna rarely bubble out of the club scene now. Today we watch them hatch on American Idol. The cabaret and ‘quality of life’ laws of the Giuliani era have been a further drag on a once very decadent environment. Bottle service and VIP rooms have changed the focus of many clubs from pleasure to business. Other cities like San Francisco or Atlanta or Montreal have become the places to party. Things have changed a lot over the past few years.

But does that mean that our nightlife scene is gone? Have we missed the chance to enjoy New York nightlife?

Click on the image to read the full story from New York Nights.

Nightlife News for November 6, 2007

Nightlife News for November 6th, 2007

The Economics of Bottle Service (Pascale Le Draoulec- Forbes)
A nightclub has a clear social hierarchy. There are people who get to sit down and have drinks delivered to them. Everyone else has to fight their way to the bar and stand up. What’s the difference? We call it bottle service.

NYN to Launch New Feature: (Gamal Hennessy- New York Nights)
The geography of New York’s club scene changes on a weekly basis. Established spots close, new spots open, names change. How can you keep up with it all and make sure you don’t walk up to your favorite spot only to find out it’s been closed by the Department of Health?

Possible Landmark Status for Webster Hall? (Jennifer Lee- New York Times)
While some nightclubs run out of money in the first year and others are closed by quality of life concerns and police raids, Webster Hall is on the verge of becoming a New York City landmark.

If you want to read the full story, click on the banner and jump to Nightlife News