New Year's Eve is always a tough call. On one hand, it feels anticlimactic to not celebrate the start of a new year—especially with booze and the smooching of strangers—but on the other, the crowds, cost and general commotion of the night can make going out seem like the year's biggest amateur hour. According to today's Post, though, there might be a lot less swilling going on in New York than usual to ring in 2010.
"A 60 percent plunge in the number of Big Apple bars, clubs and restaurants that have been issued special permits for late-night partying means the city that never sleeps could be in for a relatively quiet New Year's. Night permits—which let drinking establishments push back last call four hours, until 8 a.m.—were issued to just 165 bars in the city, Long Island and Westchester for New Year's Eve, the State Liquor Authority said. That's down from 388 last year and 439 in 2007."
