2 a.m. Closing Time Becoming Norm for Manhattan Bars

funny. stuffy community boards start pressuring nyc bars/clubs to close at 2am, and you guys blame transplants, hipsters, old people, drunks...

how about you focus on what the reality of this situation will be? lost income for many hardworking tax payers, and businesses that can no longer afford to pay the rent. we all know many of us in NYC lead double, sometimes triple lives to make ends meet. well you can certainly kiss that goodbye if the door closes at 2 - even if they DO let you stay in all night and drink to your hearts content. there are performers, promoters, security, coatcheck, and other positions that people make money from in nightclubs around NYC. its bad enough how much bars and clubs charge for drinks just to try and turn a profit these days - expect that to go up as well once two hours worth of business is cut from them.

oh, and if this becomes normal practice in NYC, im certain the influence will rub off on every other major city in the US - just like the smoking ban.

its really pathetic if you ask me.

"waaaah, the people outside are too loud for my 2 million dollar penthouse, and my rich spoiled silver spoon fed kids can't sleep as well knowing there are poor people around"

fuck off and move to the suburbs then. NYC shouldn't be the next disneyland.

Someone111 has it right.

You bitch about Midwestern transplants driving this, yet here in Chicago, I can mosey into my favorite tavern at 4am (5am on Saturdays) and get a beer.

Suck on it, NY.

;)

Another Native New Yorker here for a 2 am closing!!!

We know our city and love it, and will fight to preserve our quality of life.

You newbies will be gone in ten years once you grow up and finish pillaging it.

You'll wind up being like your middle-age, middle-brow, middle-class, whiskey-drinking parents

NIMBYS RULE

bars must stay open late. they must!

Less Piss on my doorway by 2 hours I like Dat.

People, this is why they sell flasks. The Party never stops when you have your own hooch.

Strip clubs are always open until 4am as well, and clubs NEVER close early.

There will always be someplace to go after the bar closes. Can't let the killjoys ruin everyone's fun now can we?

New york I love you, but you're brining me down!

Just like the anti-car, anti-business proposals, insane rent/real estate, etc... This is good news for everyplace except Manhattan.

Good God, all you "natives" need to stop and think for 2 seconds about what the entire point of NYC is: they call it the melting pot not because of all of you tiresome moaners, but because ever since the early days of this country people have come here not only from all over America but from all over the world. That's what makes it so interesting, it's always changing. If you want to live in the past, you should be the ones to get the hell out.

This is seriously the saddest news. I am an upstanding citizen. Student, worker, taxpayer. But my hours are 11PM to 5AM! Am I back in Philadelphia or Fort Lauderdale? I am going to take action. Whats the next hot city that I dont have to drive in and is 24 hours? I cannot be here like this.

Being from the midwest and living in NYC for 5 years of my adult life I think that I provide a completely objective view devoid of any midwest allegiances or new york " greatest city in the world" sentiment. You have to understand that every single cute girl in new york city is not from manhattan. They are from the south, midwest, left coast and any other podunk town along the way. Chuck klosterman definitely said it best when he described new york women as being midwest girls who spend too much time at the gym and with expensive haircuts. In addition, Jersey does have some terrible guidos who pollute our city everyday, however, thats not to say that their aren't atrocious people from staten island, the boogie down, queens, brooklyn and especially manhattan.

hey idiot complaining about the midwest. in illinois bars stay open till 5am. it's funny how little some new yorkers know about anywhere else. or the rest of the country for that matter. do you even have your passport?

hahaha

Ugh. Anodyne city.

Where does a person who doesn't know anyone get to know people now? I mean, the house party scene is only for people who are connected to each other from their private schools, elite colleges, or high-priced jobs.

There is no place interesting to live in the U.S. anymore.

What a bunch of whiners. I bet you people suck to drink with.

Also Madonna, David Letterman, George Steinbrenner and Sarah Jessica Parker are all from the midwest. Take that for what it is.

Those who said that this city is dead...unfortunately are right.

Times Square(that sucks) double it sized in 4 years.

Real State is crazy, prices of everything going up and after working too hard to survive you even can not party until 4am anymore?

Michi

I for one welcome the new(old) house party movement. Totally and absolutely exclusive. No $15 cocktails. No barfing girls from NJ. No frat boys giving you a grope as you go to the bathroom.

ah. yes. I forgot how much I love house parties.

As a matter of fact, think I'll have one tomorrow.

I invite all of you whiners to New Orleans, where, to paraphrase Tocqueville, you may drink yourselves blind twenty-four hours a day at bargain-basement prices.

Of course, if you're staggering home drunk at 4am in New Orleans, your odds of getting shot are better than even, so maybe "boring" NYC isn't so terrible after all.

If you want a good night sleep, move to the outer boroughs or buy sound-proof windows. Welcome to New York.

An extra thought: If you happen to move into a noisy neighborhood, don't then COMPLAIN about it after you move in. You knew what you were getting yourself into.

Killjoys

If you're not a complete drunk a-hole, your bartender will let you stick around for a lock-in until they're ready to go home. If you're told to go home, you will probably thank them the next morning anyway. P.S. When you're told to go home, don't wait for a reluctant invitation to stick around. Just GO.

The city never sleeps.

But its people do!

Some of us actually get up for work at 7am.

You want to party? Go back to Bumfuck, USA where you were spawned and party.

holy shit. we're turning into boston.

East River said it perfectly. It's the curmudgeonly old leftovers who've watched their property skyrocket.

What about free markets? We all know even 24 hour bars would do well. A bar in NY is like owning a gold mine if you're not a moron. Let's fight this! 24 hour bars and free markets! Although, it might be a good time to open an after hours spot.

Hello dignity, how nice to meet you again.

The reason that bars should stay open until 4 AM is because the beauty industry supports the known fact that people get better looking as the hours approach 3 to 4 AM. An individual that goes out at 8 PM and drinks until 1 AM is not as "hot" as one that goes out at 11 PM and drinks until 4 AM. The statistics are out there to prove it.

Its always somebody else's fault BMMDan. Damn Implant/Transplant hipster scum.

I still stammer home drunk on a regular basis when the sun starts rising. I'm doing my part.

figures you blame other people. its always someone else's fault.

implants? they're called transplants, you fucking n00bs!

Its implants & old people who are sucking the life out of this city. At least most clubs still stay open until 7am.

Any Bar that closes at 2am is NOT a bar. Its a friggin kids place.

i'm late to the party, but i just want to make it clear. this is NOT jersey's influence. there are plenty of bars in my town that stay open and serve until 3am.

eat it kinojesi.

old-school nyc is living in the slums of the lower east side, 14 to a one room apartment. i wanna go back to those days.

What is this, England?

I agree with Papercutninja and the like... as the great (and great NYer) Norman Mailer once said, "The shits are killing us."

And yet, there is a bright side. This should create a thriving business in after-hour clubs. And that IS old-school NYC. Ah, the good ol' days... mobbed-up clubs, cops on the take...

I'm getting all misty just thinking about it.

a lot of these folks can't move since they're locked into rent stabilized apartments

what are you gonna do? shoot me?

yes, we will.

It's the SLA's own fault. They created the problem with poor management of awarding liquor licenses over the past ten years. New Yorkers should not pay for their mistakes. Then there are the groups that lobby for quiet communities that want more restrictions and early closing times for liquor license holders.

why? because it's true.

this is all to appease the bitter, gun clinging masses. Oh noe, look a black person!

let's hide in this Ruby Tuesday's till he's out of sight! hey, while we're here let's order a bloomin onion.

What are you talking about?

Yup it sure is. No go the fuck back to (insert shitty midwestern town here). Go fuck yourself.

I guarantee every trendsetter, every artist, every character in this city that took the road less traveled and made this city THE city to come experience, whether for a visit or for those brave enough to try and conquer it - had their most inspiring times after the hours of 2am - and with a drink close by.

hahahahahaha - oh whats becoming of "NYC"

Can we have a community meeting to give Puerto Rico back to the Puerto Ricans too?

Ride a tiger

This town has become so retro trendy whathaveyou that now its cool to have a 2am closing times at bars. That don't make nooo sense. Why don't we bring back 3.2 beer as well. Maybe cuff my acid washed jeans and wear 3 swatches on 1 arm. Everything lame is cool again. God help us.

Guess it's no longer the "City that Never Sleeps."

i agree with Eastriver (#25). he pretty much hit the nail on the head.

these community board meetings tend to be filled with lots of old school NY'ers who are just sick and tired of being priced out of their neighborhoods. a lot of these folks can't move since they're locked into rent stabilized apartments, so they're hoping that actions like these will drive out the young, monied types that they loathe.

unfortunately, it's not going to work.

also, i believe community boards also take into account 411 noise complaints. obviously you just need one or two crotchety old neighbors who incessantly call to ruin a good time.

why? because it's true.

this is all to appease the bitter, gun clinging masses. Oh noe, look a black person!

let's hide in this Ruby Tuesday's till he's out of sight! hey, while we're here let's order a bloomin onion.

Sweet. There's that New York attitude I was looking for. Bitch, moan, bitch, moan.

Hey Papercutninja, it's your fucking attitude that makes this city unbearable.

i can't type.

sorry - mean harbingers...

What is this, LA? This and the Trump Soho are harbinges - get out while you can!

Thanks mid-westerners. You've succeeded. You and your stupid Sex and the City/Felcity/Friends aspirations have RUINED this city. You wanted to be in NYC, but as soon as you get here you want it to be the same as Akron or some other shit midwestern city. Applebees/Cheesesteak Factory/Chilis all those shit places popped up and ruined any sort of authenticity here.

Congratulations! Manhattan is now the same as some shitty town in Ohio/Iowa/Illinois/whatever fucking shit state in the middle of this country.

i blame it all on commercial hip hop and trucker hats.

thanks implants.

you killed my city

I think you should go to a Community Board meeting sometime to see just who it is that is that is against 4 AM closing times in their neighborhoods. It certainly isn't 23 year olds fresh off the bus from Ohio. In most cases it is long time New Yorkers that resent anyone from the outside coming into their neighborhood. They're killing the nightlife out of spite or in the naive hope that the young noisemakers will go somewhere else.

GOOD! There is no reason why all you drunks need to continue drinking until 4AM. If you haven't got laid by 2AM then go home instead of drowning your sorrows.

Plus I fuckin hate going out at 11PM.

When I moved here 3 years ago I came with the mindset that NYC was really cool and I wasn't. I guess I brought the lame with me cause its gotten lamer and lamer every year. I'm gonna move back to North Carolina since that's where all the New Yorkers went.

Most bars I went to last summer just closed their doors and let people party until they felt like kicking people out.

Does this make the NYC in Vegas more like NYC than NYC?

What happened to the city that doesn't sleep?

While almost all my "mis-steps" happened because of the drinks I got from 2-4am I have no regrets. NYC should be a place you can get a drink 24/7.

Plenty of yuppie scum below 14th st. Bottle service and transplants have ruined the night life. House parties are the new vip sections.

Having worked in CT for 4 years and attempting to have a life after 8:00pm, (READ: Drinking) it made me appreciate NY even more since I left. Now that I'm back in NYC, it's scary to see that they're making a run at being Anytown Connecticut. I won't truly give up on NYC till they start (or stop) selling alcohol after 9:00pm or Sundays. Oh, one more thing, isn't prohibition over?

Fine... yet another reason never to set foot in Manhattan except to go to work.

Yet another nail in this town's coffin.

I'm disappointed in this city, the greatest mother a kid could have.

thats funny mfib

perspective is everything i guess

I personally try to never go above 14th st.

Fear of brainwashing and yuppie scum

NY is DEAD.

thanks implants.

you killed my city

Can we just wall off 27th street and let them all rape and kill each other and everyone else gets back to their responsible drinking.

Hell, none of them are NYers anyway.

Why are you taking my functional alcoholism away? My greatest crime is playing Gordon Lightfoot at 3:45 A.M.. Or, ya know, anytime.

Of course this only has to do with

"New Establishments"

I am quite confident that Grassroots Blue and Gold doc holidays and other staples will be drinking till 4 am for quite some time

interesting piece though

reminds me of the Cabaret license development back in the Guliani Years

In 1960 there were over 2000 cabaret licenses in nyc - by 2000 there were around 100

messed up right?

Little Ellsbury and Carpathia have to sleep soundly to get to their posh preschool in the morning so that they can get into Harvard in 12 years.

It'll wake the kids.

What about the clubs that don't open until 4am?

"they don't want drunken bastards screaming at 4 in the morning in their neighborhoods? why not?"

No, they'd rather have normal, sober New Yorkers screaming at 6 in the morning in their neighborhoods.

it's jersey's influence. perhaps if folks from hoboken would stay there then we wouldn't have to deal with ordinances!

they don't want drunken bastards screaming at 4 in the morning in their neighborhoods? why not?

madonna was right, this city is not as cool as it used to be.