Greenhouse (again), Juliet, Le Souk, and Vanderbilt

The New York Nights Club Report for October 28, 2009

Compliled by Gamal Hennessy

Events
Halloween Weekend Parties
(Joonbug)
A list of events for the weekend if you’re all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Opening

Juliet Supper club
(Thrillist)

The former Prime space reopens in West Chelsea as a gastroclub

The Vanderbilt
(Martini Boys)

A high end venue opens in Park Slope

Closed
Le Souk

(Eater)
The community board has successfully shut a successful hookah lounge

Controversy
Greenhouse

(Gothamist)

In the wake of their racial bias suit, the Tribeca lounge might have been the scene of a stabbing

Greenhouse, La Villa Rouge and Q

The New York Nights Club Report for October 22, 2009
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Opening

La Villa Rouge
(Nelly List)
A French Moroccan lounge opens in the LES this weekend.


Downtown Galway Hooker
The midtown Irish sports bar spawns a clone in the West Village

Q
(Black Book)
A new performance space rises out of Quo in West Chelsea

Controversy

Greenhouse
(Gothamist)
A new lawsuit claims the TriBeCa lounge engaged in a racist door policy

Carnival and the Persecution of Beer Pong

The New York Nights Club Report for October 14, 2009

Complied by Gamal Hennessy

Opening
Carnival
(New York Nights)
Bowlmor Lanes spawns the newest theme bar in Union Square…

The New Bar Roundup

(Shecky’s)
It is officially too cold for Beer Gardens, so drink in these new spaces instead…

Controversy

Beer Pong Persecution
(The Gothamist)

The State Liquor Authority has recently ruled that the ancient tradition of beer pong is a violation of state liquor laws. At the same time, AM New York reports on a American College Health Association warning that beer pong and similar activities could increase the risk of swine flu. I guess it’s safer to just do shots instead…

Have fun
G

Ainsworth: The Venue with Something for Everyone?

by Gamal Hennessy

Nightlife venues used to be melting pots; microcosms of the city itself. Preppy, hipster hip hop, rocker, model, plain, professional, artsy, straight, gay all occupied different pockets of the same venue. The music would shift back and forth to cater to each crowd and mixing and mingling outside your comfort zone was as easy as crossing the room.

Niche venues and promotion companies that catered to a specific demo have largely replaced the mega venue melting pot. The multitude of choice has segregated the nightlife community into smaller tribes of like-minded patrons. This new era gives us more control over the type of night we want to have, but it doesn’t offer many opportunities to sample music and people from other walks of life unless we go to a new club.

Ainsworth might be a return to the venue that tries to be all things to all people. Billed as a gastropub (basically a pub or a sports bar that serves gourmet pub food), the 6,000 square foot Chelsea has a lot to offer. There are huge screens to watch sports. There is a pub menu that includes unique items like pineapple ribs, wild mushroom pizza, and miso duck spring rolls in addition to pub favorites like calamari and cheese fries. There is a DJ booth and a good sound system for music. There is a small place to dance. There is a space for bottle service. There is a brunch menu for the daytime crowd and there are specialty drinks for the ladies. The only thing the Ainsworth doesn’t have is an outdoor terrace. It might not do everything perfectly, but it does have the potential to do several things well.

The crowd is the most unique aspect of the space. Instead of instantly drawing in a huge sports crowd, or a big model and bottle crowd the operators are filling the room with a variety of patrons. The emo kids stood by the bar with the business suit crowd. The glamour girls hung out near the nerds. The DJ dropped a Michael Jackson tune and everyone went bananas. If you ignored the people staring down at their Crackberries, you might have mistaken the scene for the old melting pot venues of the 80s.

The novelty will eventually wear off and the free liquor will eventually stop flowing. When that happens, a specific group of patrons might eventually claim Ainsworth as its territory. You should get there before that happens. Who knows when you’ll find another venue that will let you mingle outside your comfort zone just by crossing a room.

Have fun

Gamal

Simyone Lounge, CB4, Le Souk and the New York Nightlife Hall of Fame

The New York Nights Club Report for October 1, 2009

Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Opening
Simyone Lounge
(Urban Daddy)
An underground lounge opens on the border of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District

Community Boards
New Chair of CB4 on nightlife
(Chelsea Now)
John Weis offers up his views on the future of West Chelsea nightlife.

Le Souk
(Eater)
The successful and controversial lounge is trying to renew its liquor license.

Awards
New York Nightlife Hall of Fame
(Good Night Mr. Lewis)
Recognition is coming for the people and places that made New York nightlife legendary.

Have fun
G

Female Safety in the Nightclub Environment

By Gamal Hennessy

There are 65 million entries into nightlife venues every year. The vast majority of the patrons who go into our bars, clubs and lounges make it home safely every night. Unfortunately, on rare occasions, predators and fanatics prey on the isolated and the defenseless. The results are terrible for the victims and negative for the industry as a whole. The recent case of Luis Zambrano highlights both the need for awareness in an adult environment and offers guidance on the best way for ladies to protect themselves at night.

Last week, Inside Edition ran a story about a man named Luis Zambrano. Mr. Zambrano went to Marquee, isolated a 23 year old girl, dragged her out of the club in full view of the crowd and the operators, took her back to his apartment and raped her. Because the entire incident was caught on Marquee’s security cameras, Zambrano was arrested and pled guilty to kidnapping and rape charges.

Experts state that this contained several elements that predators look for. First, the victim was separated from her friends. Second, the victim was either drunk when Zambrano met her or she accepted drinks from him that were laced with GHB or similar substances. This combination gives predators the ability to overpower and move a victim out of the venue. If she is too drunk or drugged, she’s not conscious enough to resist or even speak. Other random patrons can’t tell if the man carrying a woman out of a club is her boyfriend or her rapist. The bouncers can’t tell if they are best friends, if they just met or if they never met. The predator preys on animosity and isolation.

There is no practical way for women to alter or eliminate predators or fanatics in nightlife. It is often very difficult to even identity a potential threat in the chaotic environment of a club. But there are five steps that women can take to deter and avoid assaults while they are out; group movement, designated watchers, deterrence images, retained awareness and responsible indulgence.

Group Movement: Lisa Friel is an ADA for the sex crimes unit in Manhattan. She has experience with cases of sexual assaults that begin in clubs and end in the predator’s apartment or car. She advocates that women use the concept of group movement, meaning that the ladies go out together, remain in the same general area and leave together. This prevents any one woman from being isolated and abused. Ms. Friel isn’t saying you shouldn’t dance, meet boys, exchange numbers and generally have a good time. She isn’t saying that the whole night should be one huge exercise in cockblocking. She is saying that there is strength in numbers when it comes to preventing sexual assault.

Designated Watcher: Ms. Friel also supports the use of a designated watcher. Similar to a designated driver, the watcher drinks less than the rest of the group and makes sure that no one falls unconscious, gets overcome by a group of fanatics, or stumbles out of the club at 4:15 without any idea of where they are or how they are getting home. Again, this isn’t an invitation for a wet blanket to play morality cop and ruin everyone’s night, but if you go out in a group and the whole group gets blind drunk, then the security of the group isn’t that effective.

Deterrence Image: If you are separated from your group, or if you are the designated watcher, you will need a way to drive off people who might cause problems. Sexual criminals in nightlife are similar to predators in nature. When choosing someone to attack, they often choose the person who appears the least likely to protect themselves. They target the weakest of the herd. In a nightlife context that means they will target people who are drunk, preoccupied, confused, or who project weakness through non verbal signals in their body language. Victimology experts Chuck Hustmyre and Jay Dixit suggest that attackers are less likely to choose targets that are organized in their movement, confident in their posture and comfortable in their surroundings are less likely to be singled out. The evidence supports this theory. Zambrano didn’t target the women who were full of energy and dancing around him. He went after the one passed out on the couch.

Retained Awareness: The Zambrano crime also shows that it is very hard to get out of a situation that you are not aware of. If you are surprised, caught off guard or blindsided, you are more likely compound your problems. If you’re going to get so drunk that you don’t know where you are, you are more likely to wind up someplace that you don’t want to be. A stumbling drunk identifies herself to every fanatic in the room as an amateur and a potential victim. Maintaining awareness of your surroundings as you party is an integral part of being a nightlife native. You can have a good time and keep your eyes open, but you have to make that choice up front.

Responsible Indulgence: The basic concept that women can use to protect themselves is responsible indulgence. It isn’t about being afraid to go out or going out looking for trouble. It is about knowing your limits and being familiar with your environment so you can deal with a potential problem if it arises. There is such a thing as too much to drink. There are activities that aren’t worth the risk. You can enjoy everything nightlife has to offer and still remember it in the morning. Predators seek out nightlife amateurs and avoid nightlife natives because the amateur is easy prey. As more women become natives, sexual assaults against women will be even more atypical.

Sexuality is at the core of the nightlife experience. Women are the linchpin to the majority of nightlife business and culture. But that doesn’t mean that they need to feel uncomfortable, threatened or afraid when they go out. It does mean that they need to take some precautions to deter the Zambrono’s of the world.

Have fun.

G

Anja Bar, Le Souk Harem and Su Casa

The New York Nights Club Report for September 10, 2009

Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Opening
Su Casa
(Thrillist)
Mexican crafted cocktails find a home in the West Village…

Le Souk Harem

(Urban Daddy)
The celebrated East Village hookah bar brings its to Greenwich Village…

Changes
Anja Bar
(Eater)
Legal conflict over the Buddha Bar name leads to a new name and a new chef…

Limelight
(Associated Press)
The historic nightclub will be reopened as a mini mall…and nightlife weeps.

HoHo
(Good Night Mr. Lewis)
Will the area between Houston Street and the Holland tunnel become a nightlife center?

Resources

Societe Perrier
A strong new voice in nightlife is supported by luminaries and backed by Perrier.