The NYC Halloween Parade is a time-honored celebration of outrageousness, insanity and gruesome genius—all of which are augmented so nicely by alcohol. Thus, costumed strutters and sideline gawkers alike will appreciate our guide for where to keep your tank nicely tanked along the parade route. (Which is, by the way, Sixth Avenue from Spring Street to 21st Street) Be safe, now.
Going south to north...
Upbeat and occasionally downright raucous, this West Village gay mainstay is what a bar would look like if it came down with a severe case of ADD. Bonus: Sexy bar boys pour very reasonably priced drinks.
124 Rabbit Club
Yet another spot whose entrance is granted through seemingly stealthy action (ringing a buzzer upon an unmarked black door), this subterranean beer bar is without question a welcome addition to the uninspiring throes of MacDougal Street’s otherwise college kid-filled pubs.
99 Below, filled with dark, gleaming wood and the scent of melting cheese (try the Irish nachos), somehow manages to feel simultaneously un-collegey and classily casual.
Not directly on the parade route, but this beer-lovers paradise is worth the two-minute detour. Maybe four to five minutes if you have a cumbersome or restrictive costume.
Located, European style, inside a quaint 19th century courtyard, this superb Belgian beer house is home to the finest beers and ales that the lowlands have to offer. Prices can get steep, but after two pints and a plate of Belgian style pommes frites, you won't be complaining.
For the tonier Halloween Parade drunk: Elbow your way to the bar through the layers of well-to-do drinkers and tapas-eaters (our pick: bacon-wrapped dates) and finagle a glass of Alta's sangria. Mmm, blood-colored.
BLT Burger
Suddenly starving? Trick or burger. Laurent Tourondel adds another restaurant/bar to his ever-expanding empire, and this one specializes in ... right.
If stomping around in fake blood and fishnets makes you hungry for booze AND belting out Journey and Celine Dion, think of all the wonderful photographs that might come of it.
Try as they might—with wooden stumps as tabletops, antlers as light fixtures and a "VIP" treehouse—to drive home the rustic theme, it's hard to lose sight of the fact that you're in the Flatiron District and not in a cozy lodge out West. But maybe DJs, bottles and 2,500 square feet of dancing are your thing.
Splash
Since its opening in 1991, this bi-level, over-the-top gay club has undergone several transformations to stay one step ahead of its competition. Currently, the joint clocks in at 10,000 square feet, with a dance floor, stage, full length shower and a hi-tech lighting system. Ruin your costume!
Flatiron Lounge
When you merge mixologist Julie Reiner, a restored 30-foot bar circa 1927 and the ghosts of the Rat Pack, the outcome is Flatiron Lounge, where a faultless potpourri of original and classic drinks cements their reputation as being all about the art of the cocktail.
It's over! Now if you can get in/afford it, celebrate (post-10 p.m.) at slick Citrine, where the emphasis is on bottle service and specialty cocktails, the DJ stands in a lofted box, and the lights on the walls are always changing color.
...Or go down-market at Porky's, where the name pretty much sums up the vibe at this kitch-cluttered and sassy Chelsea roadhouse.
