By Gamal Hennessy
The New York nightlife landscape has evolved. The former dominance of mega clubs has splintered into specific niche markets where micro communities can party in relative isolation. Many see this as a natural progression in entertainment, similar to what we see happening in music, TV and movies. But some within the industry feel that these niche markets can’t survive on their own and if New York nightlife is going to thrive again, we need more mega clubs.
It’s easy to make an analogy between the fragmentation of modern entertainment and nightlife. It used to be that we only had a handful of television stations to watch. Now we have 500 channels of cable television and sites like YouTube and Hulu. We once listened to radio or watched MTV to get our music. Now we can bypass radio completely with digital music, internet radio, and ipods. We used to have mega clubs like Palladium, Limelight and Crobar. Isn’t it natural for lounges and smaller clubs to develop in an attempt to cater to smaller markets?
Steven Lewis, an established authority on nightlife for the past several decades, disputed this line of thinking in one of his latest articles. According to Mr. Lewis, a mega club that caters to different crowds on different nights has the ability to fill the room every single night and by extension make more money. A smaller venue that only caters to a specific demographic group has a harder time during off nights. If it can only make money two or three nights out of the week, it might not be able to survive.
Mr. Lewis is clearly working from an informed perspective, but even if we need more mega clubs to enhance the quality of nightlife there are substantial hurdles in getting them. Real estate costs and the current financial turmoil might make it hard for developers to open profitable mega clubs in the short term. Anti nightlife community boards might also attempt to block larger clubs from opening by rejecting liquor license applications. Can clubs service diverse crowds on different nights without being large? Some spots like Sin Sin or Bar 13 try to do that now. Can large clubs emerge in New York’s financial and climate? Mansion and Marquee are still fixtures in the industry, in spite of what’s going on in the market. Are the niche venues the best alternative under the circumstances? Maybe the new Limelight will be the next evolutionary step in nightlife.
Have fun.
Gamal
Source: Good Night Mr. Lewis
The New York nightlife landscape has evolved. The former dominance of mega clubs has splintered into specific niche markets where micro communities can party in relative isolation. Many see this as a natural progression in entertainment, similar to what we see happening in music, TV and movies. But some within the industry feel that these niche markets can’t survive on their own and if New York nightlife is going to thrive again, we need more mega clubs.
It’s easy to make an analogy between the fragmentation of modern entertainment and nightlife. It used to be that we only had a handful of television stations to watch. Now we have 500 channels of cable television and sites like YouTube and Hulu. We once listened to radio or watched MTV to get our music. Now we can bypass radio completely with digital music, internet radio, and ipods. We used to have mega clubs like Palladium, Limelight and Crobar. Isn’t it natural for lounges and smaller clubs to develop in an attempt to cater to smaller markets?
Steven Lewis, an established authority on nightlife for the past several decades, disputed this line of thinking in one of his latest articles. According to Mr. Lewis, a mega club that caters to different crowds on different nights has the ability to fill the room every single night and by extension make more money. A smaller venue that only caters to a specific demographic group has a harder time during off nights. If it can only make money two or three nights out of the week, it might not be able to survive.
Mr. Lewis is clearly working from an informed perspective, but even if we need more mega clubs to enhance the quality of nightlife there are substantial hurdles in getting them. Real estate costs and the current financial turmoil might make it hard for developers to open profitable mega clubs in the short term. Anti nightlife community boards might also attempt to block larger clubs from opening by rejecting liquor license applications. Can clubs service diverse crowds on different nights without being large? Some spots like Sin Sin or Bar 13 try to do that now. Can large clubs emerge in New York’s financial and climate? Mansion and Marquee are still fixtures in the industry, in spite of what’s going on in the market. Are the niche venues the best alternative under the circumstances? Maybe the new Limelight will be the next evolutionary step in nightlife.
Have fun.
Gamal
Source: Good Night Mr. Lewis
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Dan Malay NY State Liquor Authority top cop accused of scamming NY State for $30,000.00 read what the NYS liquor authority is up to at www.NYSLiquor.com
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