teetotaling

It is Spring, moonless night…starless and bible-black…The boys are dreaming wicked or of the bucking ranches of the night and the jollyrogered sea…You can hear the dew falling, and the hushed town breathing…Only your eyes are unclosed to see the black and folded town fast, and slow, asleep…And you alone can hear the invisible starfall, the darkest-before- dawn minutely dewgrazed stir of the black, dab-filled sea…Time passes. Listen. Time passes…Only you can hear the houses sleeping in the streets in the slow deep salt and silent black, bandaged night….From where you are, you can hear their dreams.
(Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood)

brashly TRASHLY (image: courtesy Modern Drunkard Magazine)

Oh, the Good ‘Ole Nights of nihilism, liquor and lingerie. Oh…LAST NIGHT(!?)…UM. So maybe “after hours” NYC isn’t as Milk Wood-quaint. But srsly people, boozin’ isn’t ALL THERE IS late, LATE at night. And “after hours” memories are crisper, the drier they are.

Late night, Scrumpyless scenesters can peruse at Bleecker Bob’s Golden Oldies Record Shop (open till 3am weekends), bowl at The Gutter (open till 4am), gormandize at various evening establishments, or consider the aforementioned Wifi cafes–including Cake Shop’s new and IMPROVED upstairs.

And while it might be unwise to stroll alone at 4am, in-group it might be The Best Time to “get scenic.” Meander unhindered across Brooklyn Bridge, hitch a pre-dawn ride on the Staten Island Ferry or watch the sunrise along the Brooklyn Promenade.

But wherever you wander, remember, night is the world lit by itself, and yet for some, it is often more alive and more richly colored than the day.

(image: courtesy Daring Rocket)