Nightlife

PARTY DOWN THE BLOCK.

The Big Apple has no shortage of options for all-night club hopping.

New York City is where Madonna practiced her steps and the Talking Heads asked, “How did I get here?” The blueprint drawn here influenced cities across the country—whether small underground basement spaces or supersized mega clubs with enough room for 2,000 dancers. The problem, however, is that there’s too much nightlife in NYC. You could start on a Friday at 10pm and by Sunday at 6am you wouldn’t even have covered Chelsea alone. In fact, you might still be on the same block. To make it easier, we’ve undertaken the tough task of checking out several nightlife options; we even sampled cocktails and tried out our best Saturday night moves.
—Jeremy Dillahunt

Retreat • 37 West 17th St • 212-488-6600 • www.retreat-nyc.com

Although it’s a newcomer to the NYC club scene, Retreat instantly makes an impression. Designed to evoke the interior of a fishing and hunting lodge, the bar sometimes resembles not so much a 2,500-square-foot dance floor but rather an extremely deckedout tree house—complete with a state-of-theart sound system, leather couches, hardwood floors, and rough-cut pine paneling and tables inspired by acclaimed woodworker George Nakashima. Three-dimensional, naturethemed art only adds to the outside/inside feel, encouraging the twentysomething crowd to party like animals in the wild.

APT • 419 West 13th St • 212-414-4245 • www.aptwebsite.com

Ever since its inception, APT has been the club that others NYC hotspots are measured by. This is partly due to its split floors—upstairs caters to a more relaxed vibe, downstairs to a “shut up and dance” attitude—and partly to its lasting ability to provide an underground feel without the local knowledge required to find the NYC underground. Weekends tend to feature marquee DJs like Claude Van Stroke, while weeknights favor local favorites including Bobbito and Duane Harriott.

Double Seven • 418 W 14th St • 212-981-9099 • www.thedoubleseven.com

Exclusive even by NYC standards, this Meatpacking District lounge is heavy on amazing cocktails, hot dance parties and all sorts of beautiful people. The trick to getting in is to arrive early—before 10pm—and dress to impress. Once you pass the velvet gauntlet, however, you are treated to an intimate space fit for 90 people, drinks that feature hand-carved ice cubes and a sound system rivaled in quality only by the DJs themselves. The diminutive interior evokes the classic NYC basement dance floor, only with sophisticated touches like leather banquettes hosting the likes of Mick Jagger and Naomi Campbell.