Where to go on New Year’s Eve in NYC
And 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1—Happy New Year! Auld Lang Syne starts playing in the background and everyone is looking for someone to kiss. Noise makers are blaring, confetti is flying and up until this point, it was the end of the year as you knew it. The jaded sect will call New Year’s Eve amateur hour, the service industry will call it a work night, and people in their thirties who act like people in their nineties will claim to be in bed by 8:30pm. Those groups are all relatable on some level, but how do you want to ring in the new year? 2019, we can all agree, has been a series of swift kicks to the teeth—but there is something about New Year’s Eve. There’s potential, hope even, for lack of a better word. More than any other holiday it has a promise of change and renewal. Sure, resolutions come and go, but on the actual eve, there is still all that budding possibility. It’s a night that deserves recognition, for people to gather around and wonder should old acquaintance be forgot, while lifting a glass and wearing silly hats. It’s a night to let loose the perils of the past and sip champagne out of themed plastic novelty flutes. It’s a night universally dedicated to honoring the passing of time.
There are few months remaining in this decade, (yes, let that sink in—this decade. This is also that small window of time every year where people can make that joke, “see you next year” and we all laugh and laugh) and everyone deserves a night to celebrate the coming of the new. Now comes the issue as to where one should celebrate such an occasion. New Year’s Eve always seem to have the starter pack of noise makers, dated tiaras and hates, and glitter riddled glasses. If you’re in NYC, there is no shortage of places you can spend the holiday:
The Classic New Year’s Eve NYC:
Standing shoulder to shoulder in Time Square in midtown Manhattan with absolutely no one else from New York City, apparently by choice, is the intention of thousands of people each year. They crowd in the few block radius of Time Square for hours to wait for ten seconds of magic while the ball drops. Temperatures are cold, places offering free solace are scarce, and allegedly diapers are necessary. You can get the full New York City experience by getting yelled at by people who live here while trying to walk. If this sounds good to you and it’s on your bucket list, by all means go forth, but it’s not the best way, in this writer’s heavy-handed opinion, to spend such a night of potential.
The Better Choice for New Year’s Eve NYC:
When you ask yourself, “where should I go on New Year’s Eve?” There is a pretty immediate checklist which begins to form: drink specials, open bar packages, space for large groups, is indoors, etc. It’s a rare find in this city so nice they named it twice to discover a place that has it all. Once you find it, all other options will pale in comparison.
The Best Bar to Spend New Year’s Even NYC:
Each year, or each new year rather, The Winslow hosts a New Year’s Eve bash to end all New Year’s Eve bashes. The package deal, which is $80 per person (plus tax and tip) general consists of the following:
- A four-hour open bar for beer, wine and call drinks. This goes from 9pm-1am.
- A champagne toast at midnight. (Speaking of raising a glass in plastic novelty flutes)
- Passed hors d’oeuvres (including delicious themed canapés, crostini, sliders, crudité, mini pies and puff pastries all designed by Executive Chef Nathan Pauley)
- A live DJ spinning tunes all night
- Themed décor, ambiance and more!
To say goodbye to 2019 and ring in 2020, The WinslowAAAAAAAAAAA
is throwing a 90s prom. That’s right– bring your angst, chokers, baby doll dresses, baggy goth jeans, mini back packs, combat boots and formal flannel, because it is going to be a starry, starry night under the sea.
Celebrating New Year’s Eve Near Union Square:
When heading into a new decade a little nostalgia goes a long way. The entire staff gets into the spirit. You’ll think they are actually about ready to arrive at prom in a time machine. The DJ will be playing everything from Green Day to Alanis Morrisette. You can divide your friends into two camps: Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails and Alice in Chains verses Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage. It’s still up for discussion whether or not they’ll be able to get Radiohead or Rage Against the Machine playing in just the bathrooms to sooth you when the existential spiral of human life traveling through time hits you all at once after a few open bar beverages. We’re talking Lilith Fair meets TRL. These past few sentences were also supposed to be reminiscent of 90s compilation CD infomercials. To the extreme. As if.
New Year, New You, New York – only at The Winslow:
New Year’s Eve parties should celebrate all things past while looking into the future. It’s an odd moment when one feels they can see time. The Winslow is a great and fun place to witness the coming of the new year. It’s a night capable of so much potential possibility. Why not go somewhere that has all the things you need from a New Year’s Eve extravaganza, without you having to worry about anything besides what brown lipstick or skater brand anything (you know, in the formal prom way) you’re going to wear? Drinks will be flowing, champagne will be popping, tasty bites will be nibbled all in a magical combination of the spirit of prom with the hope for a better year where you can make your own fireworks. New Year, New Me, who dis?
