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“Out Late” is Time Out’s nightlife and party column by DJ, Whorechata founder and Time Out New York Culture Editor Ian Kumamoto, and is published every other Tuesday. The previous edition was about Third Floor Sounds, a party that happens at secret locations.
You can usually tell that the world is falling apart when your favorite nightclubs are struggling. Just think back to five years ago, when bars and clubs were the first businesses ordered to close. If nightlife is the allegorical canary in an economic coal mine, then everyone should be seriously paying attention to what's been happening to nightlife for the past several months.
Whether it's party producers, venue owners, or bartenders, many in New York's nighttime economy are starting to feel something foreboding yet familiar: Tickets to in-demand parties aren't selling out, popular venues are closing and no one's really paying for drinks anymore. This time, we can't point the finger at one single cause: All we know is that the vibes are seriously off.
Nightlife United is a collective that was created in the early days of pandemic, when COVID posed an existential threat to the industry. The organization raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for emergency grants that were sent to everyone from light technicians and burlesque performers to venues and coat check personnel. At the core of their mission was to make sure that NYC's nightlife didn't die, not just because we all need places to get wasted, but also because it's an economic lifeline for more than 300,000 New Yorkers (and contributes $33 billion to the city).
I want nightlife to be seen on par with the opera from a cultural importance standpoint.
Varghese Chacko, one of the founders of Nightlife United, tells me that for him, the survival of New York's nightlife goes even beyond economic concerns. Whether it was the integration of the city's jazz clubs, the Stonewall riots or Paradise Garage and Studio 54's impact on global music, there would be no such thing as New York City as a cultural concept without New York City nightlife. Chacko's mission is to help more people appreciate that. "I want nightlife to be seen as being on par with the opera from a cultural importance standpoint," he tells Time Out. "I think nightlife is the most accessible art form. It's also extremely interactive, because you’re co-creating with folks on the dance floor."
I spoke with Chacko and others from Nightlife United to hear their thoughts on the biggest challenges facing New York City nightlife right now. Here were some of my main takeaways.
1. Party culture is changing faster than most can keep up with.
The rumors are true: Gen-Z is drinking less than millennials—about a third less, in fact. Instead of clubbing, many young people are turning to members-only clubs, dinner parties, run clubs and other wellness centered events.
How will nightclubs, many which built their business models off liquor sales, adapt to this? A lot of them simply won't. The ones that will are currently scrambling to find that answer. "That could mean embracing cannabis more, or day parties," says Chacko. I argue that the nightclub spaces that will be best poised to survive in the coming years are ones that rely on other streams of income other than alcohol—for example, food. That's probably why clubstaurants are making a comeback.
2. The rents are too high.
Many neighborhoods with some of the best nightlife in the city, including Williamsburg and Bushwick, also happen to be the neighborhoods that have been getting the most expensive. Rent in some Williamsburg blocks have increased by 70 percent since 2023, according to The New York Times, and we're fast approaching pre-pandemic prices.
"Margins have always been razor thin in nightlife, but it's at an extreme," says Dash Speaks, one of the co-founders of Nightlife United and a partner at the beloved Crown Heights bar Friends and Lovers. "The cost of commercial rent makes it almost impossible to run a business, especially if you want to do something weird. NYC is better with a vibrant diversity of stores, restaurants, and nightlife establishments, but the cost of doing business favors homogeny."
When Paragon announced it was closing for good, it explicitly cited its inability to pay rent as the reason. So there's that.
3. People are too broke to go out.
As much as we hate to admit it, clubbing isn't an essential ingredient for sustaining human life. If people are looking to cut back on their spending then clubbing and bar hopping are probably near the top of most people's lists. This creates a vicious cycle—parties are selling less tickets, so they have to charge more to break even. "Generally speaking, people don't have enough cash," says Chacko. "Sometimes you look at events and they’re close to $100, when they used to be closer to $10-$20." People who are already hesitant to go out might be fully convinced to stay home once they see a $50 cover.
Also, not to beat a dead horse but, girl, the tariffs.
4. There's not many resources for people to build sustainable careers from nightlife.
There's no school or university that teaches people how to produce a party or operate a bar, which means most people who work in nightlife end up there via necessity, accident or a combination of both. Because of that, a lot of nightlife workers often have to acquire the skills they need to succeed as they go along, and if they're lucky, find a mentor who cares enough to show them the ropes. Those are hard to find, too, considering many retire out of nightlife relatively young.
That's also part of the reason there are not a lot of advocates out there for nightlife workers, and no clear path for someone who might want to make a career in the industry. "I can grind out as a bar back production assistant, or coat check for years," says Chacko. "Where is the sustainability if there's no healthcare or retirement? These things aren't even a conversation."
That's one of the main issues Nightlife United addresses through their development program, which offers courses for nightlife workers and pairs them up with a mentor in the industry. You can learn more about that program here.
Nightlife United wants to see a city where nightlife workers with talent and passion can eventually access the resources to become managers, produce their own parties or eventually, open their own nightclubs. That would create a nightlife ecosystem that's more dynamic, exciting, and ultimately resilient in the face of economic uncertainty. And while we might be about to enter a strange and difficult period for nightlife, we can start laying the groundwork for the world we want to see at the other end.