NYE revelers usually fall into two camps: the Crawlers and the Settlers. Crawlers flit from place to place like gleeful, drunken butterflies, and Settlers find a place and stick to it. Personally, we’re with the Settlers. It’s cheaper, warmer, and usually circumvents the heartache that can make NYE such a drag. And so enters Bembe, shining like an inviting equatorial oasis on top of all the cheap New Year’s glitter. With special events veteran DJ Andy Uproot at the tables (chosen to spin for Bembe’s anniversary party, so you know he’s good), Bembe has only a $25 admission fee, an open bar from 7 to 10pm and a free champagne toast at Midnight. There will of course be the usual scalding international dance beats, live drum accompanient, and shake-what-ya-Momma-gave-you dance-fest; not to mention the smug satisfaction that you’ll get from sweating to the sway of salsa rhythms while the poor and pitifuls are freezing their collective tuckus off in New York’s most celebrated intersection, Times Square. Though Crawlers, take heart: there’s reduced admission for anyone venturing in after midnight.
