Writing for Both Sides of the Bar

By Gamal Hennessy

There is a magazine for almost every human interest. If you doubt this, just browse your local Hudson News or Barnes & Noble. Obscure topics like pen collecting, Civil War reenactments and female horror movie victims all have magazines devoted to them. Drinking has traditionally been under represented, unless you count wine magazines, which we don’t. Do publishers think drinkers are too smashed to focus on small type? A company called Chilled Media is trying to solve this problem. Their solution is called Chilled.

Chilled Magazine is part bartending magazine, part drinking guide and part nightlife magazine. It has lighter pieces (like where to buy a fake beer belly to sneak in own booze under your shirt or a list of what different pop singers like to drink, in case you run into one of them at the club), practical nightlife advice (how to get a drink at a crowded bar or cure a hangover) to deeper pieces (the origins and uses of rum, the tragic fall of the daiquiri and a history of flair bartending). There are also interviews, a comedy section, short nightlife guides and hot female bartenders in bikinis…because every magazine needs that.

Part of the magazine is for the people who drink, part of it is for the people who pour the drinks, but no matter what side of the bar you sit on at night, Chilled is a pleasant diversion from the pen collecting magazines.

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Hiding from the Doctor

By Gamal Hennessy

HIV rates are rising among some groups that make up the nightlife population. To deal with this situation, some groups are advocating a greater ability to reach these people with education and testing. Others are pushing for more condoms made available in the nightlife environment. These efforts are commendable, but they might prove futile if at risk groups are not willing to protect themselves. There is evidence that some people are going beyond hiding sexual details from their partners. They are hiding information from their doctors too.

Data from a recent survey from the Centers for Disease Control National HIV Behavioral Survey shows that 39% of men in New York City do not disclose their sexual practices to their doctors. In addition, the study shows that doctors are also reluctant to inquire about a patients sexual practices. The men who didn’t talk to their doctors were less likely to be tested for HIV, and less likely to get information from their doctors about the disease. While the study focused on men who have sex with other men, the majority of these men did not identify themselves as gay and did not limit their sexual partners to just men. Experts point to the continued stigma surrounding coming out as a leading cause of the silence between patients and doctors about sexual activity.

Between the schizophrenic attidutes that pervade sexuality in American in general and the continuing stigma associated with homosexuality in particular, it isn’t suprising that some are reluctant to discuss or even acknowledge their sexuality, even to the people who are supposed to protect them. While the lack to communication between patients and doctors places everyone at risk, it is probably unrealistic to think this situation will change. If 1 in 3 at risk men in the nightlife environment can’t or won’t protect themselves, and they are having sex with men and women we all need protection. More condom use will protect you from the people who won’t protect themselves.

Source: New York City Health Department: E-Max Health

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Loud Music Means Lots of Liquor

By Gamal Hennessy

I feel my level of drinking is pretty consistent when I go out. I grab two or three drinks every couple of hours, I get a glass of water then I get a couple more drinks that last me another couple of hours. From what I’ve seen a lot of regular drinkers have their own pattern too. They might two fist it for the first hour, mix shots and drinks for a few hours before they become a sloppy mess at the end of the night. I thought your drinking habits were a product of your tolerance, income and your lack of self control. It seems that music, especially loud music, will make you drink more.

Nicolas Gueguen, a professor at the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France recently published a study in a medical journal fittingly titled Alcoholism. In his study, a group of 18-25 year old men were secretly observed drinking in two different bars. As they drank, the bar owners began to alter the volume of the music randomly. Sometimes the sound was up, sometimes it was down. They found a direct link between the level of the music and the rate the guys drank. This finding matches up with previous studies that showed people drink more in bars that have music than ones that don’t, and that the faster the tempo of the music, the more liquor is consumed.

There are a couple of theories about why guys drink more when the music is louder. It could be that loud noises create subconscious anxiety and the liquor is consumed to counteract that discomfort. It could be that louder music stimulates arousal zones in the brain that also encourage drinking. Some think that if the music is too loud to talk, people just resort to drinking instead, but they could dance instead…if they can actually dance.

A friend of mine who spent a lot of time in house music clubs told me that the energy in those places can encourage you to do more than just drink to keep up with the music. Bar owners might have always made this connection. Music styles like jazz, hip hop, and house might have flourished in New York clubs because the owners were always looking for a way to keep the liquor and the money flowing.

Source: Healthy Future Life

Have fun
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The New Safe Sex Push

Sexually transmitted disease is on the rise in New York City. Condom use is down. Certain clubs are being targeted for promoting sexual acts on their premises. Advocates fear that a new round of suppression, fines and ostracizing will push these clubs underground and increase the spread of AIDS. One group has developed a proposal that would help local health departments and nightlife venues work together to protect the public.

The proposal advocates changes in the state health code to allow for sex with a condom in sex clubs and bathhouses. It is currently illegal to have any type of sex in these establishments with or without a condom. (See Nightlife News for April 29th ‘Cracking Down on Gay Sex Clubs”) The change was advocated by the Commercial Sex Venues Coalition and adopted by the New York City's Prevention Planning Group the group that advises the city on HIV prevention initiatives. Both groups want to use the sex venues as centers for safe sex education and HIV testing. They feel that before they can take that step, some form of protected sex has to be exempted from the public health and sanitary laws.

If the goal is increasing condom use and decreasing the spread of STD’s in clubs then this proposal makes sense. NYN suggested last month that gay and straight clubs provide and promote the use of condoms. But this opens up several questions for club owners, managers, security and patrons. Are clubs going to be liable for the possible consequences of sex in their establishments (unwanted pregnancies, rape, STD’s) if they offer condoms? Do managers have to provide separate areas for sex? Does security have to monitor activity in the club to determine if condoms are being used? Will patrons have to watch their step or trip over someone or several someone’s who can’t wait until they get home? It might make more sense for the clubs to offer the condoms but not the permission to have sex inside. That way, we have easier access to the condoms without having to slip in someone’s over enthusiasm when we’re trying to dance…

By the way, I didn’t know there was a Commercial Sex Venues Coalition, but it sounds like an interesting job….

Source: Duncan Osborne Gay City News

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Dating: New York Strengthens the Domestic Violence Law

Restraining orders are not available to any partner who was harassed, abused, beaten or threatened. In order to get one, you have to go to the police, have the guy (the abusers are usually guys) arrested and then get the prosecutor to help you, unless you were married. Most people aren’t willing to go through all that. Now Governor Paterson has agreed to expand the law to cover a wider range of relationships, including people who are dating.

A Brooklyn politician named Helene Weinstein has been pushing for a change in the law since 1988, but this is the first year that there was support from the state senate and the governor’s office. The new law will allow anyone in an “intimate relationship” to get a restraining order in civil court instead of going to criminal court. The relationship could be straight or gay and doesn’t have to include sex at all. The intimate relationship could even be created on the first date if that’s when the stalking starts.

With so many current relationships falling outside the traditional marriage structure, it makes sense that the law evolves to match the society it’s supposed to protect. Even though restraining orders can’t keep someone safe, it’s a step in the right direction and extending that to everyone who could be abused is another positive step. An expanded law can itself be abused by manipulative dates, but a lot of us have seen people at clubs abusing their partners. Maybe a few of them will be able to drink in peace once the law is past.

Source: Danny Hakim: New York Times

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Dancing on the Grave of the Cabaret Law

Kathleen Lucadamo: New York Daily News

Since the 1920’s, there has been a New York law that makes it illegal for a bar or club to have more than five people dancing to music unless it had a license for that activity. Out of the 1,200 nightlife spots in New York, only 200 have this license. Previous administrations have used this law to close clubs that they considered undesirable. It now appears that the Bloomberg administration is ready to take steps to repeal the cabaret law and get the city out of the business of dance regulation.

There are more than a few explanations about why the law was put in place, but the prevailing idea is that the 1920’s saw a rise in the perceived evils of women’s liberation and interracial dating and that jazz clubs were flashpoints for this undesirable activity. The law didn’t stop jazz, women or interracial dating, but it stayed on the books for almost 80 years before it was enforced again.

The Giuliani administration began to use the law to shut down clubs that didn’t conform to his “quality of life” crusade. After his demise, the enforcement of the law continued, just in a subdued way. Clubs found creative ways to get around the law and keep butts moving. Grass roots organizations like Metropolis in Motion have staged Dance Parades to put a spotlight on the issue. Now, Mayor Bloomberg is making moves to have the law repealed or ‘reduced’.

New York Nights has advocated the repeal of the cabaret laws since we started. While there are issues of overcrowding, ventilation, emergency exits and other security measures in certain clubs, prohibiting dance in all clubs doesn’t solve any of these problems. It is good to see local government take steps to support (or at least stop attacking) the nightlife that makes New York unique. Hopefully, the repeal of the cabaret law won’t come with any conditions that stifle us in a different way.

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Roxy Reloaded? The Latest Nightlife Battle

A new chapter is developing in the ongoing conflict between nightlife and local community boards. The Roxy, one of the last major clubs of the 80’s and 90’s is trying to reopen. This week an initial meeting was held to secure the all important liquor license. Later this month, community board 4 will meet to vote on their recommendation to the State Liquor Authority. Will this vote mark a turning point in the nightlife landscape or will the industry be dealt another tough blow?

Roxy was one of the premier clubs in the city, mentioned in the same breath as Limelight, Palladium and Studio 54. Unlike most of those venues, it managed to stay open until 2007 even though it was a magnet for local complaints. When the club closed, industry insiders expected the space to be sold to real estate developers who would turn the space into condos and office space. That doesn’t seem to be happening. Either the real estate deal fell through or the owners saw another good reason to try and reopen the club. The question now is whether the local community board will agree.

Residential real estate developments have been encroaching on areas traditionally occupied by nightlife. You only have to look at the condos going up in the Lower East Side, The Meatpacking District and Chelsea to see evidence of the condos replacing the clubs. There are fewer spaces for large clubs and more demands to curtail nightlife for the sake of new affluent residents. We think New York needs clubs like the Roxy, if only for the roller skating parties. This might be the time for us to contact the SLA and tell them what we think.

Hotel Bars: A Bar Away from Home

Seth Kugel: New York Times

Tourists flock to New York during the summer months. They go on tours, take a lot of pictures and generally get in the way of working New Yorkers. All these people need to stay in hotels. Obviously they also need to drink. Luckily for us as each hotel fights to stand out from the pack, more and more money gets spent building up hotel bars. Now cougars and fashionistas can mix with financially loose tourists for a unique nightlife experience.

There are two main categories of hotel bars; there are the ones you can get into and the ones you can’t. On one hand you have places like Salon De Ning’s and Sixty Thompson. These places are new, trendy and you are probably not going to get in unless you stay at the hotel or the words ‘exclusive club’ mean nothing to you. On the other hand, you’ve got places like Underbar, Plunge and the The View. These places might seem imposing when you first arrive, but most of them are just as easy to get into as any other club. Unless you go on the weekend, then getting in is just as hard as any other club. Each type of bar has its indoor (SoHo Grand, TriBeCa Grand or Library Bars) and outdoor (Ava Lounge, Cabana’s or Metro) variations, but whatever type of hotel bar you hit, you are likely to get attractive scenery inside and out, good service and comfortable surroundings. Intimate dates mix very well in hotel bars. That’s why the cougars are there…

When you hit the hotel bars, keep these tips in mind. First, the bar might close earlier than a New Yorker might be used to. Midnight to 2:00 AM closings aren’t uncommon. Second, hotel bars tend to be a bit more reserved than your normal club because they have to cater to the tastes of upscale guests and the drinkers. Third, the prices tend to be tourist (high) prices. There’s no happy hour here. These factors make hotel bars better for midweek drinking as opposed to the weekend club crawl. But none of these things should keep you away. If you’re a local looking for a change of pace any time of year, drink where the tourists sleep.

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Technology: Ask Your Phone Where the Party Is

There are very few things the modern cell phone can’t do. It can email, text, send pictures, be your GPS, play games, surf the web and play music. Sometimes you can even use it to actually talk to people. The next cell phone application for nightlife could be considered a reverse GPS. It won’t tell you where you are, but it will tell you where everyone else is.

Sense Networks is planning to release a mobile app for IPhones and Blackberrys that will allow users to find out what part of New York is attracting large crowds in real time. By gathering GPS data from other users and taxi cabs equipped with GPS it will show the most popular parts of town down to the individual city block. Since it tracks GPS, it should be able to tell where people are, even if they are inside a club.

From a nightlife standpoint, this concept has a few issues. First, if you are familiar with New York nightlife, you know what parts of town are going to be packed at night; Midtown West, the Lower East Side, The Village, Union Square, Flatiron, etc. You don’t need your phone to tell you that, although it could be helpful to show which clubs are in full swing when you're ready to go out.

Second, it can only tell you where a lot of IPhones and Blackberry’s are located. It seems that phones without GPS systems are invisible. Unless you make general assumptions about the type of people who own those things, it won’t tell you the kind of people who make up the crowd. So how will you know that you want to go there?

This kind of tech might help businesses decide where to set up a store, bar or restaurant based on consumer congestion, but maybe you should just stick to using your phone for texting...

(CBC News)

Sex in the Summer

Yvonne Fulbright: Fox News

The first week of June is pivotal in the New York summer season. The weather is consistently hot, everyone is out of school and the city is primed for its annual nightlife rituals. Drinking on rooftop bars, going to outdoor concerts and weekends in the Hamptons are staples of New York summer.

Summer sex is another less publicized, but no less important feature of summer nightlife. The change in seasons prompts a change in behavior on a variety of different levels.

There are several factors that increase the frequency and variety of summer sex. On a biological level, increased sunlight raises levels of MSH hormone and melatonin. On a visual level, more skin is revealed in public and that skin tends to be more tanned and attractive. On a social level, more people are focused on relaxation and pleasure as opposed to school and work. On a functional level, it is simply more comfortable to engage in sex when everyone is wearing less clothing. The combination of all these factors creates an atmosphere conducive to fun in the sun.

While we agree that summer weather promotes sexual activity, it’s clear that the exposed skin, raised hormones and focus on pleasure are a part of New York nightlife in every season. It’s also clear that higher levels of sex in an already sexual environment (supported by large amount of alcohol) can lead to al fresco sexual experiences. Couples are hiding in secluded shadows inside and outside club more often common than might think. If you find yourself in these circumstances…congratulations. We have two pieces of advice for you. Pay attention to the rules of public sex, and for God’s sake remember to bring a condom.