A judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey man who blamed Wicked Willy's bar on Bleecker Street for getting him so drunk he tried to cross a highway and got run over. Alan Berger was 22 years old on that fateful night in 2009 when he dominated the beer pong table at Wicked Willy's. His lawyer argued that Berger should have been cut off, telling the Post "he was ‘winning’ and never left the beer-pong table." We were under the impression that you drink less when winning beer pong, but Berger's lawyer says his client got wasted because Wicked Willy's didn't monitor the action at the table. “They had just an unlimited amount of beer going on down there," the attorney says. more ›

One of the things that used to make New York City great is that all the bars stayed open until 4 a.m., so you could support your local businesses long after residents of other more provincial cities had tucked their dainty livers into bed. But more and more—and especially in Manhattan—2 a.m. is becoming the norm for last call, because local community boards are withholding liquor license approval unless barkeeps agree to shut down early. We've seen this happen all over the Lower East Side, the Meatpacking District, and Tribeca, and now Harlem is the latest part of town to demand veritably Bostonesque hours of operation. more ›

Hangovers keep you lean, mean, and honest. They punish you for your hubris and force the necessary introspection that comes after a night of self-abuse. The worst hangovers steel you for your next worst hangover—and for New Yorkers who have two or more drinks on a given evening, they're part of life [pdf]. Given that there is medicine to keep you studying, copulating, and growing hair, why not a potion for hangovers? If only it were that simple. In the interest of the most august journalism, we tested several different hangover "cures" so that you may be better prepared. more ›

You're cut off, says the NYC Health Department, which has just released a heavy new advertisement warning New Yorkers about the dangers of excessive drinking. And how much drinking is considered excessive by their medical standards? If you're a man, they say you're overdoing it if you consume more than two drinks a day or 14 in a one-week period. For women, the upper limits for drinking are one a day or seven over the course of a week. In other words, pretty much everyone you know in New York is a depraved booze-hound. more ›

Yo, this year's batch of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau was uncorked just after midnight, and it's got a bangin' new label that's sure to resonate with the wine's urban demographic! By French law, Beaujolais Nouveau—a young red wine made from the Gamay grape and bottled at the end of harvest—may not be released before the third Thursday in November. So the company does a big publicity stunt every year, uncorking the first bottle at the stroke of midnight, and designing a different label. This time they hired Brooklyn graffiti artist Kaves to do the honors. more ›

A Fordham sophomore who is paralyzed from the neck down after a fall from his lofted bed is suing the school for not installing guardrails. Last February, after a night of drinking, 20-year-old Kei Usami fell almost four feet from his bed and fractured his spine. According to the Post, his lawsuit also alleges that the schools volunteer EMS medics transported him without a neck brace, exacerbating the fracture. more ›

A group of 13 brave souls visited 200 bars in 10 hours, breaking the all-time pub crawl Guinness World Record of 170 set by a group in Chicago, the Daily News reports. Completely defeating the purpose of bar crawling, one member of the group drank a half-pint of beer at each establishment. No word on whether the Guinness World Record committee will acknowledge Randy Daufman, who yesterday consumed 200 beers in one bar, and whose ex-wife is apparently a "no good, thieving whore." more ›

Two years ago, the eagle eyes at the NY Post spied some World Trade Center workers enjoying some alcoholic beverages during their lunch breaks, and broke the shocking news that construction workers sometimes drink on the job. And today, to their utter disbelief, the Post reports that WTC hardhats are still boozing at lunchtime at the same spots they did two years ago. more ›

We're quite fond of the Greenwich Village live music club Le Poisson Rouge, so we were surprised to hear some grumbling about the bar, which seems to be charging patrons extra for drinks on the rocks (a common practice), but also charging extra for drinks not on the rocks, a.k.a. neat. One unhappy customer recently sent a copy of his or her receipt to Eater, and it shows a $3 charge for Glenlivet with ice, and a $3 charge for Glenlivet without ice. WHAT IS THIS RAPACIOUSNESS AND WILL THEY APOLOGIZE?, we asked the club. They got back to us promptly with an explanation that, well, kind of makes sense. more ›

It's time someone had the cajones to take on Big Water: a Glasgow-based doctor has published a new report claiming that all those studies that suggest people should drink a lot of water and stay hydrated is all hogwash and balderdash. General practitioner Margaret McCartney argues that drinking the recommended eight glasses a day can actually be harmful for you, and the benefits of it are often exaggerated by "organisations with vested interests" such as bottled water brands. more ›

Lately, it seems like all "scientific" studies seem to only be good for two things: learning that dumb stuff you already knew was true is true, and learning that good/bad behavior is the opposite of what you expect it to be. Appropriately, two new studies fall into each category quite comfortably: according to a new report by Drugfree.org, teenagers don't think binge drinking is a big deal. And according to a new study by the University of Copenhagen, wasting time browsing the internet might be good for your job! more ›

Following her Thursday night tumble outside of Motor City Bar on the Lower East Side, Lindsay Lohan continued to drink her clumsy juice into the weekend. At least, so it would seem! According to vague reports and anonymous sources, the fallen starlet was bar-hopping on Friday night, hitting up RiffRaff's in the Flatiron District for the Cut Copy afterparty, and then heading to the Standard (where we're pretty sure an LCD Soundsystem afterparty was taking place). more ›

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic is back. Tickets for the third city-wide celebration of sipping spirits—including tickets for the honest-to-blog spectacular opening gala at the New York Public Library—aren't on sale until April Fools, but the lineup of the Classic's classes (the actual reason for the annual event) have just been released. This year the $50 courses, which run from May 13-17, were selected by popular vote (more than 20,000 people voted) and they sound pretty interesting. more ›

A new study is claiming that (duh!) caffeine is a hangover cure, at least for the headache portion of your morning-after ailments. It will not cure that overwhelming sense of regret, or satiate your craving for an egg n' cheese sandwich with a side of cold pizza. more ›

Is Ted Williams's daughter seeking revenge for him abandoning his family, a paycheck of her own, or has the man with the golden voice really fallen so far in just one week? Yesterday word got out that he and his daughter were detained after a family altercation at a Hollywood hotel (they were in town filming a Dr. Phil episode), and now Entertainment Tonight has an interview with the two following the incident. more ›

Oh sure, label us binge drinkers, but don't put us in the fun top 40 drunkest cities list? Something stinks, and it's not this Four Loko. Anyway, the Daily Beast ranked cities on how drunk they get, saying, "New Year’s Eve revelry serves as a reminder that the rules of moderation sometimes go out the window. The question we have: Which places throw out those rules too often?" The #1 city is Milwaukee, WI—where the average person 12.76 alcoholic beverages a month. A month! Oh c'mon, we know people (not us) who drink that much in one night. Maybe New York was taken out of the running because we're too good at drinking too much? more ›

As if "GTL" isn't already permanently etched into every American's vocabulary right now, Jersey Shore starlet Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi says she will write a "Snooktionary," to help viewers understand "what the hell I'm saying [on the show] cause nobody knows." She gave a sneak peak of what would appear at a press conference yesterday, introducing the verb "To Snook." "I'm just Snookin," she said. "Snookin' is when I'm looking for a guy. If I Snook the night, I took the night." This is just what the Smurfs did, right? more ›

According to a new Gallup poll, the number of Americans who drink alcohol is at its highest point since 1985. But of those 67% who say they enjoy boozing it up a bit, a majority are college graduates and/or make over $75K a year. So, using statistics to our advantage, this must mean that drinking more will make you smart and rich! This calls for a toast! more ›

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay out here, says Assemblywoman Joan Millman, who quietly introduced a bill last month that would amend the alcoholic beverage control law to require bars with roofs and backyards to corral everyone inside at 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends. Once inside, the patrons would be required to read quietly, work on their needlepoint, or just think about what they've done. more ›