new yorkers, please help my flatmate

puhleeze.

Do you know where he's staying? Like what area, what hotel, whatever? Cos I'd like to recommend things near to him to start with.

people may tell him to go to Dojo for good veggie food. do not listen to anything else these people have to say. end communication. (reopening: take ally's advice on uptown bars. but be prepared to spend $. downtown bars - go to the lower east side or e. village. niagara or barmacy for ruff rockin scene, good world or double happiness for more upscale yet still "down with it" tippling, welcome to the johnsons for cheep dive, and whatever else he finds walking around avenue a and b around houston st. famously hidden Chumley's is in the west village at 86 bedford st, a converted speakeasy that serves burgers and beer and has sawdust on the floor. clubZor: try baktun. try guernica. for a Proper Club try 'be yourself' at vinyl on friday night (danny tenaglia!).) AND of course if he really wants to have fun he'll have to come to brooklyn :)

you should probably mention what sort of budget he/they have...

but the best new years afterparty is going to be the MOTHERFUCKER party! Um, except its a bit on the freak'ish side.

If he's here on wednesday, tell him to come to my weekly electroclash/new- wave/etc party at Lot 61. It's kinda swank though. i'll put them on the list... and any other ILE people too. yay!

dojo makes my tummy hurt. i guess for clubs/bars, it also depends on what sort of scene he's into. hiphop/soul: Mondays @ APT [!!]. drum'n'bass: Camouflage Tuesdays @ Guernica. 2-step: Wikkid Wednesdays @ Guernica. Drag Queen Glam: Thursday @ Spa. Americans wishing they were British: Tiswas Saturdays @ Don Hills or Shout Sundays @ Bar13. Britney & Steps & Madonna: Thursdays @ Flamingo. Oh, and if any of them are gay, they simply MUST go to Berliniamsburg Saturday @ Club Luxx in Brooklyn. must must must. swoon.

phil, the Pyramid is still good too, no?

you R putting me on your list NOW. (please?)

oh yeah, konkrete jungle at the pyramid? i just mentioned camouflage because this boy i had asked out, and subsequently got rejected by, spins there. hey, wait. hmmm... go to konkrete jungle instead....

but sure, "tracer hand, plus one", i guess. anyone else? the party just started last week so its not too crowded yet, but um, that means you get a booth. :) we're talking to some electroclash'ish bands about performing, like scissor sisters, soviet, morplay... hope things work out. if you come tomorrow, say hi. i'm the asian.

Thank kew phil! Eggcellent. I actually meant not k. jungle vs. camouflage but the Pyramid as another good gay club. Andy Weatherall's been there, Richard Devine this week, and no thick-necked cigar men from the Upper East Side groping the ladies.

oh, i actually don't think ive been to pyramid not on the d'n'b or 80s night. in fact, the only gay bar i go to is excelsior in park slope. they have belle & sebastian, komeda, magnetic fields, and galaxie500 in the jukebox. but i have a hunch that chris' flatmate probably has little interest in new york's gay scene... chris, i remember some thread awhile back of you asking where to spend your big holiday... well? where?

No, flatmate's interest in New york's big gay scene will probably be very small indeed. I'll mail him now and find out where he's staying and we'll go from there eh?

My big trip? well, at the moment (as I got told yesterday that redundancy shouldn't be a problem for the end of March)it looks like I'm going to go to Amsterdam, Paris (sorry Phil, but a French mutual acquaintance of ours has just moved there so I have to go see her) possibly Berlin and then go to Spain for the rest of the time up to the World cup, mostly Galicia and Barcelona.

I'm going to try and get a weekend in noo yawk too.

oh nooooo! elena moved back to france? tout malade!!!

oui!

anyway, flatmate Mike is staying at the Sheraton New York Hotel and towers which at 811 seventh avenue and 53rd street. I have no idea where that is but I bet you lot do. Is it nice?

Phil, I found a shop doing cheap (£3) copies of that No-ID CD you were on about... if you want me to pick one up for you, give me a shout.

good world or double happiness for more upscale yet still "down with it" tippling

Good World, for the record, was absolutely vile, Tracer. I will never, ever set foot in that hellhole again. Boring music, boring staff, boring decor, not that interesting menu, ugh.

Tracer, you seem to have this big misconception about uptown bars and clubs. I mean, for one, I've never had to pay a cover charge at any of the uptown places I frequent - most of the "better" downtown clubs charge cover. And the drinks are the same price at any of the places I go to! Potion's "upper end" drinks are a little pricier than, say, Alphabet City, but that's about it. I mean, how many uptown bars have you actually gone to, dear? :)

And yes, the Sheraton is nice. I don't think that's too far from Iguana...um, let me look into a few things about the exact area and I'll get back to you on good things to do.

Thanks Ally, much appreciated, I'm off ILe til xmas eve soon but I'll send him a link so he can go and see what you said. And I'll probably need advice in April!!

Ally hey, I like uptown really I do. It just has different priorities. Potion - colored bubbles running through the walls. Welcome to the Johnsons - beer running along the floor. Potion - Cosmos. Welcome to the Johnsons - $3 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Potion - Hummus and pita plates. WttJ - pork rinds.

As far as cover charges go you are on crank. You're a crankhead. If you paid a cover there was a name DJ or band - maybe in the back, but they were there. It's easy enough to find places without those things.

I am sooo gonna redeem myself about Good World though. That place sucked.

Welcome to the Johnsons - $3 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon

That's like a 100% markup for fuck's sake! Jesus, Tracer, you are getting ripped if you pay $3 for a can of PBR. Potion, which I already said is slightly more expensive than most bars, is like one bar. Like I said - have you ever BEEN to any uptown bars besides Potion? Try Peter's, it seems more your scale :P

I don't see how you're going to redeem this Good World crap.

hey, i'd be interested in hearing ally's recommendations too... i haven't been farther uptown than 23rd street in a really long time, except to go to the Hudson Bar to see what all the hubbub was about [sexy, but boring]...

okay, welcome to the johnsons = RAD. it reminds me of the basement to my parent's house in chicago... minus the residue from past floods. plus its c-h-e-a-p.

Ally can have Amsterdam Avenue, I'll have another of the Good World's awesome house cocktails with lingonberry juice.

Welcome to the Johnsons, though. Sheesh. Get the two dollar PBR cans at Freddys or O'Connors, Tracer, and put the subway fare towards another drinkypoo.

Only place I ever end up paying a cover is Williamsburg on Saturdays, another reason to stay well clear of that garbage heap.

Around here, a pint of PBR at a bar is $1-$1.50. You can get 24 cans for like 5 bucks at the grocery store. You can get a keg for less than $40. What kind of point is someone who pays $3 for a can(!) of PBR trying to prove?

What kind of place sells Pabst by the can, anyways?

The kind of place that caters to NYC hipsters slumming it.

I loved Welcome to the Johnsons. the tabletop Ms. Pacman = rock. Hmm, aren't PBRs a buck at Hogs and Hefers? Is the Beauty Bar still on 14th street?

Heh heh, go Phil...Actually I hated the Hudson Bar, the people there were totally lame. It was like mostly empty but the staff was still not letting people in, WTF?

I'm still thinking of recs, sorry. Been swampy lately.

[not that there's anything wrong with NYC hipsters slumming it]

Hello Chris' flatmate here.

Thanks for the advice everyone, looking forward to a good time in NY.

We want to get into Times Square for New Years eve and then head off to a club. What time do we have to get into Times Square for to be sure? Do people bring their own booze or are there loads of bars around? How cold is NY this time of year?

Thanks for The "motherfucker invitation", I think we are looking for something a bit more mainstream. Any ideas?

I spent last New Year in New York - we were staying in the Hilton very near Times Square but it started filling up about 5-6pm and we really didn't fancy standing there in the cold for several hours (it was absolutely freezing - take a big coat and lots of pairs of socks!).

Instead we had cocktails in the hotel bar, drifted northwards via a few bars (sorry, i can't remember the names of any of them) and ended up in central park at midnight with a bottle of cheap fizz. It was snowy and there were fireworks and a band playing cheesy music and lots of crazy people doing a fun run that started at midnight (!!). It was a great night and infinitely better than freezing to death in Times Square for hours.

Have a good one, wherever you end up.

Hmmm, Times Square...I can't see it being quite as packed as normal this year, what with the whole terrorist thing. But it is going to be quite cold, and still crowded...it's definitely cool to do if you're willing to put up with that. Then if you head a bit up or downtown instead of staying RIGHT midtown you might find a good spot to go for drinks afterwards, but expect really popular or "nicer" places to be charging cover, even after midnight, most bars suddenly start charging fees when it's New Year's Eve. Go to a dive, it'll be fun. But yeah, get to Times Square, if you're going, by 6, 6:30 at latest, cos otherwise it does get too packed and you can't get near enough to see.

I LIKE Good World and their Swedish meatballs and aloof bar staff. but it did scientifically suck for us that day and i feel responsible.

Get the two dollar PBR cans at Freddys or O'Connors, Tracer, and put the subway fare towards another drinkypoo

I am humbled.

Maybe a PBR pub crawl in honor of Chris' flatmate's visit during the first week if the new year is in order. Anyone in NYC then who wants to meet up for some slum-level boozing?