The world’s best restaurant city also stakes claim as a gold mine for bars, lounges, nightclubs, literary clubs, and Broadway spectaculars. For the record, Broadway’s original name was the Wiechquaekeck Trail, reflecting an Algonquin trade route. As for the city’s oldest operating hotel, the Algonquin — home of the Algonquin Round Table and the city’s first hotel of note to welcome ladies traveling alone – magnets include the pub-like Blue Bar with a rotating collection of Hirschfeld drawings and its Oak Room, among Manhattan’s leading cabarets.
New York nightlife now provides so much to see, do, and digest that the biggest challenge can be sorting A-to-Z allure, from the legendary Apollo Club in Harlem to Zum Schneider, an authentic indoor German beer garden in the heart of town. Carnegie Hall, arguably the most famed performance space on the planet, has it all, from classical to offbeat, and its Isaac Stern Auditorium welcomes top soloists, ensembles and orchestras from around the world. In short, the Big Apple has way too much going for quick bites only, from theater and performing arts to live rock, jazz, and dance clubs, from cabarets to chamber music venues. When in New York, any night is a fine time to go out on the town, and week nights often rival Saturday night sizzle. After dark action centers toward downtown, in East Village dives, West Village jazz haunts, or in the trendy Meatpacking District. Upper East/West side lounges attract preppies, and nocturnal entertainment abounds Midtown around Hell’s Kitchen, especially at newer watering holes like The Wee Pub. Brooklyn, across the East River, attracts diehard rock and rollers.
The Big Apple is sufficiently infused with diversity to support venues for almost every taste no matter how quirky. Neon-lighted Times Square has undergone a huge renaissance to attract visitors, if not hordes of comparatively jaded Manhattanites. More than being anchored at any particular location or address, floating parties — those following DJs, celebrities, and club promoters are especially hot.
