Results tagged “bars”

Facing shutdown, the Off-Track Betting Corp. has come up with a Hail Mary to try to stay financially afloat: they have started pitching bar owners on installing betting machines on their sites. The OTB is in serious danger of permanently closing down all 66 of its city parlors unless it receives immediate funding from Albany before April 11. They've already laid off 1,300 employees, suspended six-figure pay, and riled up gambling senior citizens—and you mess with them at your peril. more ›

One Manhattan man has decided to go to 365 bars in a year, and of course he is going to blog about it, and get a book deal, then a movie which your dad will want to see with you one Christmas! We love this country, and so does Marty Wombacher, author of 99 Beers Off the Wall, who's heading to his 60th bar today. As usual he will be reviewing every drink on his blog A Guy Walks In To 365 Bars. Fascinating! So what can we learn from a man trying to frequent about 18% of Manhattan's bars (NewYorkOnTap estimates about 2,000 in the borough)? more ›

The Brownstone Brooklyn Bugaboo has made it all the way to CNN. Today the news source touches down on the touchy subject of Brooklyn parents bringing babies to bars. Nothing that hasn't been covered here before, though they sum up the debate through the words of a 26-year-old single woman and a stay-at-home dad, both from the borough. more ›

Ever try to have a conversation with a friend at a bar but find it difficult to talk or even hear yourself think because that Ke$ha song is on and the establishment has turned it up to 11? Well, there may be a reason the bartenders are aurally assaulting you, even when their bar is pretty much empty and there is no reason for this to be sonically drilled into your skull when you are just trying to have a happy hour beer. Ahem:

It had been found that environmental music was associated with an increase in alcohol consumption. The presence versus absence of music, high versus slow tempo and the different styles of environmental music is associated with different level of alcohol consumption.

Fear not people who like to drink until 8 am — the state has extended the deadline for bars looking to push back the last call on New Year's Eve. After only 165 bars applied for the special "night permit" that allows them to keep serving booze for four additional hours after last call on New Year's — a 60 percent drop from last year — the State Liquor Authority extended the deadline for the second year in a row. Bars looking to obtain the permit have until next Monday, the New York Times reports. Nightlife insiders initially said the low number of applicants was due to the poor economy and the early deadline. more ›

New Year's Eve celebrations might turn out ending a little earlier this year, because the number of New York area bars that have applied for a special permit allowing them to keep serving booze until 8 am has plummeted by 60 percent. According to the Post, the number of "night permits" that extend the last call by four hours fell from 388 watering holes in New York City, Long Island and Westchester last year to just 165 this year. more ›

Records obtained by the NY Post confirm that many NYC nightclubs, bars, and restaurants have been doing what many of us long suspected: refilling top-shelf liquor bottles with cheaper alcohol and watering down drinks. It's unclear exactly which establishments have been committing the crime against sobriety, but Marquee paid a $100,000 settlement to the SLA in October; violations included allowing a "disorderly" climate that led to fights, unregistered security guards and "contaminated" bottles. SLA spokesman Michael Smith says, "We may find contaminated liquor or contaminated products, which may include refilling of liquor bottles with inferior liquor or fruit flies contaminating the bottle." According to Marquee, fruit flies were the problem, not well liquor in top-shelf bottles. Meanwhile, BLVD/Crash Mansion paid a total of $16,500 in fines to the SLA last year, but the club's owner says, "We paid $8,000 for a fruit fly" in a bottle of Jack Daniels. And in April, an anonymous bartender griped to the Feedbag about the DOH: "The obsession with fruit flies is a bit absurd. In the warm weather months they’re here and places do everything they can, but fruit flies will always be around." more ›

While you were out enjoying the night for no reason, others were out enjoying the night for a cause. And that cause is to be able to enjoy many nights, more often, forever and ever. The Nightlife Preservation Community... is something that exists, and it was launched by the NY Nightlife Association on Monday. It's here to help you go out more often, stay out later, and age quicker—like Chloe Sevigny over there. more ›

Tip #1: Drink at home! As you may have noticed, the green-themed debauchery got to a raging start over the weekend, and there's currently no shortage of drunken yahoos (pictured) out there. Should you decide to join them tonight, you may want to consider avoiding the more obvious destinations like McSorley's (where the mob lined up to start drinking at dawn), Peter McManus and Farrell's—that is, unless you really want to get the full drunken mob experience. On the other hand, every bar, Irish or not, is going to be mobbed, so there's no sense going out tonight if you're not in the mood to bond with humanity. Here's where to find them:
• The epic Saint Patty's "Luck of the Irish" Pub Crawl began on Saturday and is still in full effect! For a $20 ticket you get drink specials at over 100 Manhattan bars, and a chance to help break the Guinness World Record for World's Largest Pub Crawl. So at least you'll be getting slaughtered for a noble cause.
• If a variety of green-colored beverages is what you desire, look no further than the Village Pourhouse. Besides the requisite green beer, you can also sip green martinis and pound green-colored shots. At the uptown location, anyone who recites a limerick gets a green beer for free; downtown the owners have hired a man to dress as a leprechaun to pose for photos and surrender his dignity to the debauched crowd.
• A more refined diversion will take place tonight at the Merchant’s House Museum in the East Village, the city's only family home "preserved intact—inside and out—from the 19th century." Bridget Murphy was the Irish cook who worked for the home's original occupants back in 1855; she'll be appearing tonight via wormhole to give visitors "a back-stairs look at the Merchant’s House Museum. Taste food made from 19th-century Irish-American recipes, sample Bridget’s famous ‘green’ tea punch—an old New York recipe—and tour the fourth-floor servant quarters (usually off limits to visitors)." There will be a bagpiper playing traditional Irish music, and, naturally, alcoholic beverages. ($30 for non-members; details here.)

When you want to know which venues to catch live music at in NYC, you wouldn't think to check the UK's Guardian, and there's probably a reason for that. However, they've just released their top 10 list of "where to catch the hottest new bands" in New York (written by a 5-year resident of Brooklyn)—sorry Manhattanites, the venues are all in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The writer's top picks (and the fact that outside of these two Brooklyn neighborhood's the author suggests Bleecker Street's Bitter End as a go-to should be very telling) include Enid's (which hasn't had live music in quite some time), Trash Bar (which besides suffering from a case of bad booking, doesn't exactly boast the most convivial atmosphere), Sound Fix Lounge (which may not even host live music anymore), and Rock Star Bar (which they describe as dirty and desolate—agreed!). Some notable omissions: Music Hall of Williamsburg, Zebulon and Monkeytown. Any other Williamsburg/Greenpoint gems missing from the list? more ›

Fewer and fewer bars in the five boroughs establish themselves as a neighborhood hangout without the assistance of a television to draw patrons in. Even Greenwich Village pub staples The White Horse Tavern and McSorley's Ale House have sets, though the latter claims theirs is rarely on. Today's Times goes out in search of bars that forge ahead without the distraction of a TV, a group that Brooklyn Brewery owner Stephen Hindy calls a vanishing species. Not surprisingly, the ones they find wear their lack of television as a badge of honor at bars like Scratcher and Beer Table in Park Slope, where they seem to have no problem turning away customers looking to watch a game with their pint. An owner of the Swift Hiberian Lounge NoHo tells the Times, "We’ve never had a television because we wanted to inspire something that is close to the conviviality of pubs in Ireland.” One of the patrons there added, "The only good thing about a TV is that if you want to dump a girl, you can pretend to be watching it." more ›

Bad news for cocaine dealers: with less than a day left to apply, only a few dozen spots around town have submitted the necessary paperwork in order to stay open into the night on New Year's Eve. A new, earlier deadline and the State Liquor Authority's tightening the leash on which places they'll let stay open until 8 a.m. has led to only 39 bars filing for permits. Last year there were 400. And even among those 39, six have already been denied. Rob Bookman from the New York Nightlife Association thinks the new deadline is responsible, telling the Post, "It used to be that you didn't have to file until 10 days before New Year's Eve. There was no outreach besides the SLA's Web site, which no one reads." more ›

The health department says the number of violations for smoking inside bars and restaurants jumped by a third in the past year, following an increase in inspectors conducting checks as late as 4 a.m., when barkeeps are more inclined to let drinkers light up. The number of smoking citations issued to bars and restaurants increased to 917 in the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2008, compared to 694 in the previous year. The fines range from $200 to $2,000. more ›

Everyone's favorite comedian, Sarah Palin, will be going head-to-head with Joe Biden tomorrow night for what's sure to be the most watched VP debate in history. There are some pre-debate choices to be made, however. You can choose to view it in the solitude of your own apartment, shivering in a dark corner hugging your knees, or you can surround yourself with others, under the influence of many drinks, at a bar near you. If you choose the latter, here are some options: more ›

The European Cup soccer tournament heads into the quarterfinals this weekend and it's shaping up to be one of the most exciting and highest-rated international tournaments in some time. For those who contend that soccer is too boring to watch, one should try watching it surrounded by football fanatics who can not only clue you in on the finer parts of the game, but whose enthusiasm is infectious. Turkey scored a stunning last-second goal yesterday to tie its game against Croatia and advance. more ›

It may be a long hike from Lexington Ave. to Lexington, Kentucky, and even farther to Louisville, but New Yorkers are not immune to the draw of the 'sport of kings.' The 134th running of the Kentucky Derby takes place today and many people around the city will be doing what most seem to do at the races--wagering and drinking. Mapfaced has a guide on bars to watch the races at Churchill Downs. more ›

Wine bars are popping up all over town these days, and diners are also gravitating toward food made with local ingredients, so it makes sense that the next wave in the vino trend will be local wineries. Though a Staten Island vineyard is in the works, and the centuries-old Queens County Farm plans to sell wine from its vineyard this fall, the new urban wineries have to make do with grapes from Long Island or the Finger Lakes. more ›

You've got your bracket filled out for the NCAA Tournament and you wanna cheer on the team you picked to win it all. But where does one go to root with like-minded fans? A new map from Mapfaced solves your problem! They have a list of 33 schools and the corresponding bars that will welcome your Carolina Blue, chant "Hoya Saxa!" with you, or enjoy your off-key singing of "On, Wisconsin!" Mapfaced even has the schools listed by tournament region for ease of use. more ›

Last week's Second Annual Corned Beef Cookoff – a benefit supporting families of the Fighting 69th soldiers in Iraq – was won for the second year in a row by the Upper East Side’s Neary’s Pub. (The Irish-American dish became popular in New York around the turn of the 19th century.) Neary’s will be dishing out the corned beef tonight, as will Murphy & Gonzalez, which tied for second place with Peter McManus Café, which will be packed today, starting at 8 a.m. more ›

New Yorkers like to go out. A lot. A website aptly called Outalot allows fast and easy browsing of three nightlife basics: restaurants, bars, and movies (Gridskipper calls it "menupages-meets-yelp"). more ›

THE JAKEWALK: This romantic Carroll Gardens wine, cocktail and cheese bar is named after a Prohibition-era malady called the “Jake Walk”: a stiff-legged gait that afflicted drinkers of Jamaica Ginger, an alcohol-based “tonic” tainted with a leg-paralyzing neurotoxin. It’s the third in a growing “Smith Street empire” run by the owners of nearby haunts Smith & Vine and Stinky Bklyn. Their new venture, which opened last night, boasts (deep breath) 50 wines by the glass, 120 kinds of whisky, a rotating specialty cocktail list and a menu bulging with 40 cheeses, 20 cured meats, caviar and a “fondue of the day.” 282 Smith Street, Brooklyn, (347) 599-0294. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston are putting it all on the line for Sunday's Super Bowl. After winning the awful bet from Green Bay, Bloomberg has a lot more riding on the line when the Giants face off against the Patriots this weekend. As is the custom when the playoffs roll around, the mayors of the teams participating decided on a friendly food wager. The stakes, or should we say steaks, are upped in this bet as the Vince Lombardy Trophy are on the line. more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

Remember that cruel(la) couple from Long Island that enslaved two Indonesian women who worked in their mansion? After their million dollar bail plan was announced back in June we hadn't heard much about these two. Today, however, silence was broken after Varsha Mahender Sabhnani and her hubby Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani's trial has ended...and the latest is not good news for them! more ›

Some time ago the New Yorker ran an amusing “Talk of the Town” feature on nightlife crusader Roy Den Hollander, who, unlike most nightclub scolds, isn’t fighting against excessive noise and loose morals – he’s out to put a stop to the scourge that is Ladies’ Night. And not because he disdains the ladies or the night, but because Den Hollander, attorney at law and self-styled pick-up artist, sees it as yet another way The Man tries to keep down the, er, man. more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2007 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., Spike TV) It is the fifth annual outing for this awards show for video games. Live From Lincoln Center: Red Hot Holiday Stomp (Monday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13) Jazz at Lincoln Center is highlighted with this special hosted by Glenn Close. There will be a program of holiday music and jazz, plus it also features the broadcast... more ›

If you were wondering what that posse of Santas wandering around NYC was yesterday, that was SantaCon 2007, when red-suited and bearded men and women roam the streets and crowd the bars of our fine city. If one isn't satisfied by the pictures below, more can be found on flickr here. SantaCon 2004 SantaCon 2005 SantaCon 2006... more ›

Zagat's updated Best of Brooklyn 2008 guide was released yesterday, filled to the brim with all that the city's largest borough has to offer, including 216 restaurants, 141 nightspots, 355 shops, 25 tourist attractions and more. Like all Zagat guides, this one is a complilation of surveys from the public and each entry is rated on a scale of 1-30. The guide is broken up into five sections: Dining, Nightlife, Shopping, Gourmet Shopping & Entertaining,... more ›

Since an army of sloppy amateurs are expected to mob New York’s bars tonight to toast the anniversary of Prohibition’s end, it might be a good night to pick up a bottle of something or other and bring the celebration home. Imbibers looking for something special in Brooklyn need look no further than the Williamsburg Bridge; the paisans behind the rustic Williamsburg restaurant PT and the romantic North 8th Street D.O.C. Wine Bar have... more ›