The Empire Room, Studio B and SLA Fines

Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Closed
Studio B
(Eater)
The Greenpoint rooftop bar succumbs to community pressure.

Controversy
SLA Fines
(Village Voice)
Several venues are fined for allegedly filling top shelf bottles with well liquor.

Coming Soon
The Empire Room
(Eater)
The Empire State Building will soon have its own upscale cocktail lounge.

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?




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Drinking at 500 Feet

By Gamal Hennessy

We’ve done several stories about the threats to New York clubs and bars. A lot of these issues revolve around a club getting or keeping its liquor license. NYN started investigating the process to give the public a better idea of what goes on behind the scenes. I found out two important things at my first hearing…




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Whiskey and Sake in the Summer…

The New York Nights Club Report for July 31, 2008




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PrideFest, Shanghai Mermaid and Beer Gardens

The New York Nights Club Report for June 27, 2008

Can We Keep Clubs Open? A NYN Special Report

By Gamal Hennessy

Behind the scenes of New York’s constant nightlife party there is a struggle for control. The outcome of this conflict will dictate where and how you enjoy New York bars and clubs. A few weeks ago, we published Last Call to explain this situation from the point of view of the bars and clubs. This article will bring other influential groups into the debate. While NYN maintains its position as an advocate for nightlife, we feel our readers need to understanding the perspective of the other players involved will make all of us better informed about the issue.

Can We Keep Clubs Open? Part II

By Gamal Hennessy

This is the second part of our Special Report on Community Boards and New York Nightlife.

Can We Keep Clubs Open? Part III

By Gamal Hennessy

On Tuesday and Wednesday we started looking at the discord between New York nightlife, local community boards and the role that the State Liquor Authority plays between them. Today we’re going to try and provide some editorial context for all of this and a suggestion for what should happen next…

Elizabeth, Last Call and the Bars of the Tribeca Film Festival

The NYN Club Report for May 1, 2008

Last Call: The Latest Threat to New York Nightlife

A New York Nights Special Report
By Gamal Hennessy

Part III: The Future

Recent events have created tension between the nightlife industry and the community boards. Those tensions have fueled a sneak attack on clubs in the form of a 2 AM closing stipulation. How this situation going to affect the clubs and the people who like to go there? Find out in the last installment of our special report…

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.

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

A New York Nights Special Report
By Gamal Hennessy

New York is one of the few cities on earth that has a constant nightlife presence. One of the main reasons tourists and new young residents come here is because we have more clubs that are open later than almost other city in the country. The continuous energy of New York nightlife pumps millions of dollars into the city every year and helps make us the city that never sleeps.

But all of the money, energy and prestige that comes from New York nightlife will disappear if the clubs themselves are forced to shut down. How could that happen? How could a city that holds more than 1,500 bars, lounges and nightclubs be reduced to a fraction of that? If clubs are uniformly forced to close at 2 AM instead of the normal 4 AM time, it could have a ripple effect on not only the nightlife industry but the overall New York economy. New York Nights is going to take a look at this issue in a special three part series.

Getting Into the Business Part 1: The Bartender

By Gamal Hennessy

Have you ever wanted to work in a bar or a club? Have you ever thought ‘I could be a better bartender/ DJ/ dancer/ promoter than this tool in front of me’? In the first of our special features this month, I’m going to tell you how you can get to the other side of the bar and become one of the people that keeps New York drunk.

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

The NYN Guide to St. Patrick's Day

by Gamal Hennessy

Nightlife Awards, Zen Drinking and Live Music Woes

Club Report for February 14th 2008
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Club Awards 2008
Pacha, Cielo, and Sullivan Room among the nominees for the best nightlife venues in America.

New Products
Zen Liqueur: What is the sound of one hand drinking? (Additional coverage from Barfly)

Live Music
Why Is It So Hard to Run a Live Music Venue?

State Liquor Authority Actions for January 2008
A list of the closures, fines and suspensions imposed in all five boroughs.

Expensive Wine, Sean Paul Seizures and Smoking Drugs…

Nightlife News for January 23rd 2008
Drinking
Expensive Wine Equals Better Tasting Wine
(Tom Randall: Bloomberg.com)
In a recent study conducted by the California Institute of Technology volunteers were asked to rate the taste of wines. Each taster was told the price of each bottle before they started sipping. In 80% of the cases, the tasters chose the more expensive wines as the better tasting wines. The only problem was that the prices were wrong. People weren’t choosing based on quality, they were choosing based on perception.

Health
When Music is Bad for Your Health
(Kirk Fernandez: ABC News)
Stacey Gayle has a special relationship to Sean Paul’s popular song ‘Temperature’. While the dance hall hit has been known to get people moving, it had a more dramatic effect on Ms. Gayle. She suffered severe epileptic seizures when Temperature or other select songs were played.

Potential Problems Cited in New Anti Smoking Drug
(Press Release)
The benefits associated with quitting smoking are well documented. There are multiple methods a person can use to help them quit. One of those methods is a prescription drug called Chanix. Late last week the makers of Chanix updated the warning label to indicate that Chanix might lead to agitation, depressed mood and suicidal behavior.

Use the Banner to read more on these stories in the January 2008 edition of New York Nights.

Police Shootings and Sin Taxes (Nightlife News)

Nightlife News for January 15th, 2008

Drinking
The Cost of a Drink Might Be Going Up…
(Joe Mahoney: New York Daily News)
Felix Ortiz, a State Assembly Alcoholism Committee Chairman from Brooklyn, has proposed a new tax on every alcoholic beverage solid in the state. Mr. Ortiz claims that if every drink cost $.25 more, the epidemic of underage drinking can be curtailed.

Smoking
New York Scores High Marks for Tobacco Control…but few are satisfied
(Press Release)
Every year the American Lung Association issues a report card for each state grading them on tobacco prevention, cigarette taxes, smoke free air and your access to smoking products. While the city and the state received high marks in almost every category, and scored the second highest ranking in the country, the ALA’s response was clear. New York needs to do more.

Crime
Sean Bell Trial Possibly Moved
(Michael Wilson: New York Times)
On November 25th 2006, Sean Bell left a Queens strip club called Club Kalua after his bachelor party. During an altercation with police, Mr. Bell’s vehicle was shot 50 times by undercover officers. Mr. Bell was killed and two of his companions were injured. Now lawyers for the police in the case filed a motion last week to have the case moved out of New York because the publicity of the case has tainted the potential jury pool.

Read more on all these stories in the January 15th edition of Nightlife News…only from New York Nights.

Nightlife News (Vivitrol, Drunks and 3rd Screen Clubbing)

Technology
NightVision Promises to Bring the Club to Your Cellphone
Press release
Imagine this; you and your friends are thinking about going across town to a club. What if you could see how long the line was, hear the music and check out people in the crowd from your phone. A new service called NightVision is planning to offer this service in New York…for free.

Drinking
Is New York City Full of Drunks?
(Kate Lowenstein: Time Out New York)
According to the Department of Health, fourteen percent of New Yorkers binge drink meaning they have five or more drinks at one sitting. Five percent of New Yorkers are heavy drinkers meaning they have more than two drinks every day. Do you fall into this category? Welcome to the club. Before you hang your head in shame and find out what this is doing to your body, cheer up. The level of binge drinking in the rest of the United States is twenty four percent…

New Treatments for Alcoholism
(Melissa Healy: Los Angeles Times)
If you read the last article and decided you need treatment for alcoholism, your main option is a rehab clinic and a 12 step program to help you stay on the wagon. Many people of the 5.7 million American alcoholics don’t want the stigma associated with this treatment. Only Amy Winehouse turned it into profit by making a song about it. New treatment options might take the process out of rehab and put it in your doctor’s office.

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