Hello DownByTheHipster.com

Hey everyone. Great news! This is going to be our final post on blogger. After 551 posts, we have finally figured out this intertube thing and have moved over to our own domain. Goodbye blogspot, and hello DownByTheHipster.com! We ask that you please reset your rss feeds and bookmarks and continue to visit us on a daily basis for the most up to date news on New York City nightlife and hospitality.

Good on ya!

DBTH Business Opportunities

Quick note. Down By The Hipster has recently joined the Blog Ads Network. For advertising opportunities, click that fancy link at the top right of the screen or here to learn more.

That is all.

The Beginning of the Beginning

Hey everyone. DBTH here. Yesterday was a pretty exciting day around these parts. You probably didn't read it, but we happen to get a little bit of publicity that wasn't really expected. In fact it was pretty much out of left field. But then again, so is the writer, Ben Leventhal. That's him up there, with his partner, Lockhart Steele (real name). And together they manage the Curbed/Eater empire. Not a bad gig.

It was just last Thursday that we were all invited guests for the opening of the Rusty Knot. We even spent some QT together, buying Lock a beer and watching his murse for hours. But while we enjoyed ourselves, Lil BL secretly seethed, desperate to know why anyone dared challenge his authority as the ultimate insider. But the anger and fear is justified. Sitting in that lonely FiDi apartment, seeing Grub Street, Guest of a Guest, and just about everyone else with access to the internet scoop him must drive him batty. Pinkberry, Momofuku and Shake Shack couldn't open enough locations to keep him on the inside. Frank Bruni only only takes him on review dinners every so often. So what is he to do?

There was just one solution. Kill the threat. So BenBen dropped the froyo coverage for a bit and became an infantile gossip to out us - hoping the publicity would make us go away. He then let us know:

"for what it's worth, steele and i worked this one together, which is to say that it wasn't done willy-nilly."

Well that's a relief. And you know we love teamwork. He then followed with some of the wisest words ever typed:

"anyway, it what it is. i just gave you more explanation that any one else gets, because you're a friend. don't do the blog if you can't be the guy."

That's so sweet of you. Really we're touched.

And to think, this is just a hobby. A labor of love if you will. No book deals and no JV's. We never ask for anything and don't get paid. We work hard to bring you this site and think we do a pretty good job. Traffic is growing (see graph), we found a great new contributor, and contrary to Ben's worthless opinion, no one here has tired of the grind. Usually that happens after 3 years, right buddy?

We're just gonna keep on plugging away, one post at a time. That's how we do.

Have a great weekend,

DBTH

Photo Credit

Introducing Nicolette

Hey everyone. Meet Nicolette. She's relatively new to Manhattan and is having so much fun going out, she decided to start writing about it on her own site, Nicolette and the City. She is going to help us out by covering many places we just can't (or don't want to) get to. Please give her a warm welcome and stay tuned for her first post later today.

Ahoy Mr. Lewis

We would like to give a hearty welcome to Goonight Mr. Lewis, a new nightlife blog run by nightlife guru Steve Lewis. You know, the guy that ran Life back in the day. Anyway, Stevie says "I will tell you what happened then, what's happening now, and what will happen tomorrow. I will make sure your night is done right." Fascinating. He is off to a huge start, running some sort of interview with the folks behind the already ous't Mansion, saying "This crew has enough energy to ensure success. In my humble opinion they are a force capable of leading clubdom to a new era."

Well, according to a Little Birdy who was there this weekend, this new era is going to be defined by lameness. Our LB says, "Was at Mansion over the weekend. The place is poorly designed, 75% empty, filled with ugly talent, and has fat girls in spandex hanging off the ceiling. Mark Baker himself came by our table to chat us up. Very creepy. I give this place 4 months." And that's that.

Back to the point, we welcome Steve Lewis into our realm. May the best blog win.

Alert: I Am Not DBTH

Over the weekend, we received the following email request:

I am an avid fan of your blog. We both share an affinity for the nightlife industry, and I often am aware of some of your stories before they are posted. Hence, my friends have speculated that I am, in fact, the Hipster. They became especially suspicious after the Tom Arnold Sundance posting because I was one of few people outside. However, as you know this obviously is a case of mistaken identity. At first it was funny but now it has become an issue for me as the word has spread, with people wary having the “Hipster” around.

That was the both the short and long of it, and we still don't know who sent it to us. But we do know something - whoever did write it certainly is not DBTH. So please, people who are associated with the author, stop being wary of having them around. They are still down. Just not BTH.

Want a Link?

We have given in to the pressure and created a link list. If you are interested in being listed, please drop the URL in the comments or via email.

DBTH

Looky Looky

A Little Birdy told us to grab a copy of the Sunday Post, saying "it seems they have themselves a Little Bird as well." We spent the dollar, and lo and behold there it is. No sweat off our backs though. Imitation really is the best form of flattery.

A Little Jossip

The folks at Jossip asked us to sit down for a little interview. We gladly obliged. You can check it out here. Please excuse the Danny Tanner image they used to represent us.

We're 200! Happy Happy Happy!

Friday afternoon, and it's cloudy and rainy. Don't forget about the cold. Brrrrr. May we suggest wrapping yourself up in a blanket and pouring a full, steamy mug of DBTH? There, that's better. We wanted to take a moment to reflect. You see, this here post is our 200th. That's a bit special, at least to us. It's been a crazy ride. We've made a ton of new friends. We've made a few enemies. We've raised the intensity and kept the love train rolling.

Most importantly, we've given you 199 posts full of goodies that you really can't find anywhere else. That's what were about. Our readers. Our friends. Our Little Birdys. And we promise that nothing will change. We just want to keep this party rolling along.

So please, friends of DBTH, keep reading. Keep telling us what you think. Keep sending us tips, questions, ideas, invitations, Facebooks, myspaces, t-shirts, baby pictures, and anything else you can think of. We love it. We love it all.

You always know where to find us.

Happy Halloween and have a great weekend.

Humbly,

DBTH


Thanks to EatMyDesgin/Flickr for the amazing picture!

Are You Down?

Dear Everyone:

It's your old friend DBTH here. You remember, we met a few months ago outside the Bowery Hotel. As you can see, we've been pretty busy these last few months. It's definitely a good busy though. We love bringing you the freshest info on a daily basis, and we promise to keep on delivering the goods. No doubt.

But in this crazy day and age, information flows both ways. So please feel free to drop us a line any time with just about anything. We love hearing from you, and want this City to be overrun by Little Birdys. And we ain't talking bout no pigeons neither. So if you:

· Have fresh intel on any bars, hotels, nightclubs or restaurants
· Have a hospitality story to share
· Want to tell us about a great cocktail or glass of wine
· Have a question or want some advice
· Just want to say hello

Just go ahead and do it! We said it! The DBTH switchboard is open 24/7. Operators are standing by to take your calls. Don't be shy.

As always, thanks for reading.

Humbly,

DBTH

DBTH Goes Social

We want to know who our friends are, so we are dipping our toes in the waters of myspace and facebook. So cutting edge, right? Totally. Whatever.

We aren't sure why yet, but we try anything once. Especially if it brings us closer to you.