New Year’s Eve is as synonymous with New York City as it is Champagne or resolutions. According to the Times Square Alliance, an estimated one million people will flock to the midtown neighborhood, and over a billion people will tune in to watch the ball drop. If you have plans in the nation’s largest city for the holiday, add our itinerary to your list.
Friday night:
Check in to The Time New York, a Times Square hotel with a jaw-dropping penthouse. For an extra-special occasion and $7,500, you can rent out the three-floors and 2,000 square feet of penthouse space. The package includes caviar pizza from Serafina, a bottle of Dom Perignon Rose Champagne delivered to the suite at midnight, and a limo transfer to and from the airport.
The Time New York
Before claiming a spot among the hoi polloi on Saturday night to watch the ball drop in Times Square, beg, borrow, steal (or call) for a table at Augustine, famed restaurateur Keith McNally’s new jewel box of a bistro on Beekman Street, in lower Manhattan. Decked to the nines for the season, the restaurant, like the best McNally joints, is instantly transportive, taking diners from under the shadow of One World Trade Center to the Parisian boîte of their dreams. On New Year’s Eve, it will serve a special, per person prix fixe tasting menu (which is all the better, as choosing from among the menu’s classic dishes can induce culinary FOMO).
Stop in to The Up & Up for a cocktail. We prefer the Town & Country for an apple-filled twist on the classic Manhattan.
The Up & Up
Saturday morning:
Unwind before a big night out at The Mandarin Oriental’s Spa. A “Calm Mind Retreat” seems fitting, a treatment balancing the extreme yin and yang energies of the body by working the core and extremities.
Saturday afternoon:
Pre-ball drop drinks at Jimmy’s Corner is be a must. The definition of a dive bar is an NYC institution, just off Times Square (on West 44th Street between 6th Avenue and Broadway). It’s owner, Jimmy Glenn, is a former friend and “occasional trainer” of Muhammad Ali, per the New York Times. He still makes regular appearances at the bar, almost 50 years after opening it. If you are lucky enough to get a seat—there’s standing room on most regular weekday nights, let alone New Year’s Eve—you may just drink till dawn. With draft beers as affordable as $3, a good time is practically guaranteed. Especially for those those whose 2017 resolution is to assume more fiscal responsibility.
Saturday night:
To celebrate the New Year, upscale restaurant Perrine will host two seatings for dinner with early reservations starting at 5:30pm with a three-course menu for $95+ per person, and a late seating from 9:00pm with a four-course menu for $325+ per person. Indulge in Butter Poached Maine Lobster, New York Prime Rib-Eye, and a decadent dessert selection. Both dinners will include a live performance in Perrine followed by dancing in The Rotunda. For the late-night guests, there will be a Big Band style performance in The Rotunda, and a midnight toast.
If you’re looking to end 2016 with a bang (and dressed to the nines), a number of black-tie galas across the city promise to make New Year’s Eve classy again. In Midtown, dance the night away at The Palm Court at The Plaza while soaking in the most classic New York ambiance possible and sipping the best Champagne flowing. Head to the Meatpacking District to watch the ball drop as Gladys Knight performs at The Top of The Standard, or further downtown, don a costume for Pier A Harbor House’s elegant masquerade event.
Sunday morning (or likely afternoon):
Whatever your New Year’s Resolution, we suggest starting it on Monday. New Year’s Day is for celebrating, and what better way to continue the festivities than with a delicious meal at the place that brought us the Bellini, Harry Cipriani.
