Nightlife & the Arts in New York City

"Everybody's working for the weekend?" Please. New Yorkers seldom wait for the actual weekend to party—in fact, many prefer to do it during the week (Thursday's particularly popular) when there's not a thicket of hormone-drenched singles prowling the floorboards. If word gets out that a hot band is playing in a bar on a Tuesday, or if a well-known DJ takes over a dance club on a Wednesday, you can be assured these places will be packed like it's a Saturday night.

The nightlife scene is still largely downtown—in drab-by-day dives in the East Village and Lower East Side, classic jazz joints in the West Village, and the Meatpacking District's and Chelsea's see-and-be-seen clubs—but you don't have to go below 14th Street to have a good time. Midtown, especially around Hell's Kitchen, has developed quite the vibrant scene, too, and there are still plenty of preppy hangouts on the Upper East and Upper West sides. Across the East River, Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood has become a haven for artists, hipsters, and rock-and-rollers.

There are enough committed club crawlers to support venues for almost every idiosyncratic taste. But keep in mind that when you go is just as important as where you go. A spot is only hot when it's hopping—a club that is packed at 11 might empty out by midnight, and a bar that raged last night may be completely empty tonight. These days, night prowlers are more loyal to floating parties, DJs, and club promoters than to any specific addresses.

For the totally hip, Paper magazine has a good list of the roving parties and the best of the fashionable crowd's hangouts. You can check their online nightlife guide, PM (NYC), via their Web site, www.papermag.com. Another streetwise mag, The L Magazine (www.thelmagazine.com), lists what's happening day by day at many of the city's lounges and clubs, as well as dance and comedy performances. The Village Voice, a free weekly newspaper, probably has more club ads than any other rag in the world. Also check out the New York Press, which has pages and pages of nightlife listings. The New York Times has listings of cabaret and jazz shows. You may also get good tips from an in-the-know hotel concierge. Keep in mind that events change almost weekly, and venue life spans are often measured in months, not years. Phone ahead to make sure your target hasn't closed or turned into a trendy polka hall (although that might be fun, too).

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