Early Fall 2006; Words & Images by Chuck Holliday

NEW YORK, NEW YORK- Nightlife in New York City has never lost an appetite for ‘the big party’ sort to speak. They have never lost their sense of swagger, either. Added up, in both arenas, New York City is the mecca of nightlife.

Just don’t call it an unblemished fact.

You really can’t anymore. Not when the nightlife scene in the Greatest City in the World is just as equal as — gasp — Connecticut.

I have a feeling that the following “behind the scenes talk,” generated after I spent a night at the latest so-called “trendy” party, isn’t going to help my longstanding (and futile) efforts to convince New Yorkers and frequent visitors that it’s nothing personal against the city or the scene.

(Pictured Above: Partygoers enjoy a typical night at popular NYC hangout TNY during a weekend event)

The view from the top of the city?

New York’s weekly partygoers care a lot more about the state of the city’s nightlife disparity than the scene’s actual promoters do.

I apologize in advance for the executed bitterness, but these are disappointing times. College semester has begun and my beloved NYU residents, who actually have their own party scene within their campus territory, have no good parties to attend outside of their campus.

Hearing that won’t hurt as much as actually going to a good party these days, whenever that comes, but ‘aiight status is still a stinging first for the quality of New York City nightlife. It represents a loss that even the ultimate global sympathizers in celebrity world say they didn’t think they’d have to venture down to South Beach for good parties until 2008 at the earliest. “The fall of the nightlife scene in New York City,” one rapper-turned-executive said, “happened faster than anybody expected.”

Couple that progress in Southern Florida with one-tenth of NYC’s population and … voila. Just over a decade since the original bad boy changed nightlife all over the city with extravagant celebrations, we suddenly can’t claim to be anything more than one of the three major cities in the surrounging tri-state area to catch a good party. The unity possessed by neighboring states New Jersey and Connecticut make those states just as big party worthy, and only the presence of music industry record label headquarters saves the once-dominant place to be from complete nightlife parody.

And that is just one of New York City’s problems. There are actually several issues they will have to diffuse for partygoers — though impatient as ever — to restore the fear factor that has engulfed into the many minds of tri-state residents. The following are simply the first five issues that come to mind, one for each aspect of the party: New York City lacks even one dependable and consistent nightlife promotion team.

1. Comp till you drop
The city that produces over a 25K annually crop of adults can’t even produce a measly $20 to enter a party? We believe that same amount can also produce maybe one Happy Meal, if lucky. Some people spend that same amount on lunch in one day… for one meal. But, as long as the promoter of the party is a male and the person waiting to enter without paying is a female, promoters will almost certainly give up money to have attractive looking ladies walking around working the bar for somebody else to purchase them beverages.

2. From the corner…to the club?
In the nightlife scene in New York City, where even a sharply dressed individual as good as x_____ (insert your favorite celebrity) can be engulfed by security, appearance is more of a precious commodity than having a good time. So after taking up to as many as 3 hours to ensure a quality appearance at your favorite club, nothing can throw you for a loop more than (after paying $50 as a male to enter of course…and then) seeing someone near the entrance inside the venue who looks as if they just came from the nearest basketball court (and often has the hygiene to match), complete with dirty off-white sneakers. Not sure what letting these types in will do to make their party look more legit, but it surely has the aroma of opening your garbage can after 2 weeks of old food.
The promoters, to restore any hope in the value of good parties, have to have an effective rule enforcement, even for their own friends. All they have otherwise is a slew of unqualified friends no other state’s promoters want and an aroma within their party that has whiffed every eager partygoer right out of dodge and into another direction.

3. The Real Celebrities are… the real celebrities
Over recent memory, some of your favorite celebrities seen at parties throughout New York City have often declined on having their photo taken other than for entertainment related purposes. Could you blame them given the current state of the city and it’s nightlife reputation? But one person’s resistance to step into their own celebrity has opened up the door for the promoters of the world to step into those places and live out their fantasy. Rather than ensure the quality of the party maintains a decent level, some of the town’s promoters have put aside creative direction and have instead attempted to become the newfound celebrity of the party. But in most cases as with any entertainment scene in any city, there is a dirty little secret that many within the field they ‘play’ in wouldn’t want you to know, and in the case of any nightlife scene in any city, what you the partygoer spend at the bar area or pay at the entrance door to be admitted into the party doesn’t exactly go into that promoter’s pockets. And that expensive bottle you may see them opening up in an isolated section? Chances are it’s being poured into glasses on a “since you can’t afford it now you can pay us back when you get a bigger crowd” basis. How else can they ‘pop a bottle’ in one regard, but can’t afford to pay the tab at your favorite local restaurant?

4. Same order of records, same sequence, different night?
Granted, the quality of urban music has taken a nosedive — faster than any decline of any music genra in the history of american culture — but there are still some classic records from years past that can make up for a great alternative at any local party. But this contribution to the list is the most confusing — one can point to the music pouring out of record labels, which don’t exactly yell “timeless” in any regard. But despite the quality in music taking a major hit over the past 2 years, that should not become the sole reason why the person playing the tunes can lose effort for providing a good atmosphere. This is a longstanding problem, and you’ll hear plenty about it even though this scene will have entered another year of the same results — than any of its neighboring cities. The length of an average 4-5 hour party means it will always be an issue, but it doesn’t stop promoters from lamenting that the quality of good music is down. In the wake of a humbling backseat to the Southern region for the New York hip-hop scene, promoters tried to address this one by securing the appearances from many southern hip-hop artists, even at the price of damaging their own reputation. It’s not the music industry at fault that no quality urban music, lack of celebrity personality, reluctance to spend, and financial mismanagement has stripped the nightlife scene of its once-proud-to-be-behind-the-wheels DJ. Some of your favorite DJ’s have been breaking their fingers…. making sure you are dancing on the floor, cthanks to the 2 Ipod devices stored under the turntables that allows them to become ‘the talk of the city.’

5. We’ll let you tell it…
This could be an article that never ends with the amount of points that can be brought up. But instead of exposing more, we would like to hear from you: nightlife@avenue1online.com — we will continue this series, with your comments, complaints, and questions regarding the decline of New York City’s nightlife scene.