Background
Before I get into the various neighborhoods and venues in NYC, I need to give some context. This is the largest city in the United States. It’s also the primary financial center of the world. Every other financial center calls itself the Wall Street of _____. London calls itself the Wall Street of Europe. Dubai calls itself the Wall Street of the Middle East. Well, NYC is literally just Wall Street. It’s the mothership.
All that is to say that there is some serious money and competition out here. Whereas in Miami, your competition might be some 90 IQ fuckboy dumbass posting IG photos of his rented Lambo, in NYC, there is literally a neighborhood called Billionaires Row. While some of your competition in this party sphere might be “influencers” posting about some crypto penny stock Hustler University retard fest, in NYC, your competition is working on deals that get published in the Wall Street Journal.
What this means for you: the saying that if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere—that’s 100% facts. This is the Superbowl. That doesn’t mean it’s rampage mode. Quite the opposite. It means you’re going up against the highest competition for the highest rewards. There are legit published models who live here and go out here. I don’t mean your homegirl who is a bottle service waitress at the local club. I mean legit published models for IMG or other agencies.
You know the old PUA expression, “money doesn’t matter”, yeah they were wrong. To be perfectly clear, I am not endorsing sugar daddy behavior. What I am saying is that I acknowledge reality. NYC clubs can have steep covers (usually in the form of a minimum spend), so you’re going to need money to even get in. You could reduce that by bringing girls, but there’s the chicken and egg problem where you need to first meet the girls so you can bring them to where you want to meet them. Think about it.
So without further ado, here’s your guide to NYC.
Private clubs
The first thing I should mention are the private member’s only clubs. This is a scene that I broke into only more recently, but it’s where you want to be. Since 2020, a lot of the social scene has moved to private clubs since that was the only game in town, so they have built a robust network accordingly. Soho House is the classic example, although Soho itself tends to lean a bit older (30s-40s). Dumbo House I am told has younger girls but haven’t yet been. Zero Bond is where Elon Musk had a birthday party—yeah, like I said, there is real competition out here.
The best thing you can do to position yourself for membership in one of these clubs is: 1) have a dialed in Instagram, 2) be able to afford the membership, and 3) go a few times as a guest with a friend who is a member, so first off you can make sure that it’s your kind of scene before you open your wallet. It also will make the application process smoother since you’re not an unknown.
Public access venues
Meatpacking District is what I like. Tao is a great restaurant for group dinners. The Tao nightclub itself has not had the best crowd lately, but the restaurant is still solid. PHD around the corner is still good. Expect +$100 minimum spends, unless you’re a hotel guest at the Dream Hotel (good if you’re just visiting town and staying there).
I have to mention Le Bain since you’ll hear that name come up. There’s no cover, but early arrival is highly recommended (10 PM) UNLESS you’re rolling with girls in your group. They will start turning away groups of guys later on in the night since that’s just the tradeoff when you don’t charge cover. They have to keep the ratios reasonably balanced somehow. That all being said, the crowd leans more toward hipsters, which isn’t really my scene but to each there own.
Common Ground is solid for the football and day drinking crowd. They can get popping at night but not always the best crowd control. If you like skinny sorority girls, you’ll love it.
I’ve heard positive things about the club Little Sister but have not been yet. Expect high minimum spends to get in the door.
I also want to caveat that in NYC, you’re really going to benefit from getting a table if you’re going to more traditional nightclubs. West or East Village bars it doesn’t matter, but for clubs, it really does help. If you don’t believe me, go out and see for yourself where the girls are. I know you may be thinking that in Austin or Nashville, you can take it or leave it with tables and bottles. This is not Austin or Nashville. Like I said, money matters in this city.
Moving on to other neighborhoods…
West Village has lots of smaller bars that people hop around to. Same as East Village but I prefer West Village.
Lower East Side and Bowery is more of the PUA territory, and that’s not necessarily a complement. Think Dirty 6th in Austin or Broadway in Nashville. Volume is high…but I’m also in my 30s so I’m looking for quality over quantity. If you’re just starting out, sure check those areas out, but I’m a little past that scene.
I don’t spend a ton of time in Brooklyn, but there are EDM shows periodically at Brooklyn Naval Yards.
I would be remiss to not mention the Hamptons, although it’s technically not part of NYC since it’s out on Long Island. The NYC party crowd likes to make summer trips out in the Hamptons. Common Ground has another location out there. July 4th and Labor Day are big Hamptons travel times.
Logistics and intel
New York is quite expensive. Living in Manhattan is difficult unless you’re already rich as fuck, or if you’re fresh out of college so it’s socially acceptable to live with a bunch of roommates in some Murray Hill crackhouse. Because of this, the term “bridge and tunnel crowd” isn’t really the negative connotation that it used to be. Some live in Long Island City or even Jersey City/Hoboken and take the train in or Uber it in. Expect expensive Ubers between boroughs of +$50. I generally take the subway to my destination and then Uber back (I’m not taking a girl back on the subway).
Instagram is a great way to get intel on the NYC social scene. I like EDM, so follow the accounts Rose Gold Presents and Tek Support to find out about cool EDM shows. Rose Gold runs boat parties during the summer. If you’re willing to throw a little money around or a bottle service table, Matt Barton is a promoter for Tao Group and can point you in the right direction. Recommending him by name since he’s a guy who gets it.
If you’re looking at living here instead of just visiting, StreetEasy is your source for NYC real estate listings.
Other things to check out
I like turning up as much as anyone, but I also want a well-rounded life. Astoria in Queens has some great international food, particularly Greek food. 32nd Street in Manhattan has Koreatown. Definitely check out the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Within Manhattan, Equinox or Life Time are going to be your go to gyms (like I said, it’s an expensive city). Whatever your hobbies are, whether it be combat sports, improv, Latin dance, wine tastings, whatever—if it exists, it’s in NYC, and it’s a short internet search away.
Times Square is touristy but it’s still worth seeing if you’ve never been. Just north of it towards Central Park is Billionaires Row with a number of luxury hotels that stretch between there and Columbus Circle. Mandarin Oriental at Columbus Circle has one of the coolest and Instagrammable views of the city from their hotel restaurant. FiDi (Financial District), home to Wall Street itself, is worth seeing but it’s also not really a business center anymore. It’s more residential. The One Wall Street building kitty corner from the stock market that used to be the corporate headquarters for BNY Mellon is now luxury apartments (NYC uses the term condos and apartments interchangeably).
And lastly, even late night pizza here is good. Usually late night bar district pizza…you know what you’re getting yourself into. Here, the late night pizza legitimately rivals the quality pizza in other cities. The hype is real.
I want to thank BowtiedPlayer for writing this post
It’s a very in depth guide of NYC
Best Regards,
-BTSC
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I’ve never lived in NYC only visited a few times but I like how this guide does a great job breaking out how NYC absolutely different from Miami, Austin, etc