I’ve been obsessed with New York City since I was a little kid. I was born in upstate New York, picturing the city as being this great, hippy welcoming place, as I watched Across the Universe and Party Monster hoping that it would be like that. Well, newsflash…it’s not. Not even close. The first time I went out in the city as a 21-year-old, I left an overcrowded club with radio music and overpriced drinks that were supposed to taste as good as people made Brooklyn sound. It was supposed to make me feel hip, or, however, hip $200 in entry fees and drinks will make you feel.

The old cliche question is that does the New York City that was filled with rave-ing club kids still exist? No. The answer is most definitely no, we’ve already established that, but how does a person define what exists now? I hate to try to convince you that I’m a nightlife expert, I haven’t been to every single club or bar. I have been to quite a few, though. And the question that first comes to mind is what even is New York City nightlife anymore? Is it even still a thing?

I understand that the grimy and free-wheeling drug induced frenzy that the late eighties and nineties is 1) incredibly illegal, and 2) also just a figment of my imagination because I was born in 1994. I have a very specific interpretation of how club kids were and my fan crush on James St. James is way too big for someone of my age. But, how could it not be? The idea of all inclusiveness and that being different was a mainstream ideal, whilst being drunk and some other things with people that shared these same ideals with you seemed like the ultimate party.

So, what’s different? What’s different today that makes going out in New York more of a chore than a party?

Different is no longer mainstream. Hip is now a mainstream.

With definitions of, “hip” surrounding us at Urban Outfitters, Facebook, Instagram, and any form of Social Media it does not only affect our way of thinking but our choices on how we party.

Take a simple question: would you rather wear sneakers or heels to the club? Obviously, you say sneakers but then ponder for a moment. You know they won’t let you in if you don’t wear heels. Why’s that? Because heels to the club have become a mainstream idea, not a fashion choice.

This is also true with music. Techno music was a musical revolution in the late eighties and early nineties. This music was what made New York underground clubs so inviting because it was new. However, today what is it? It’s remixes of radio music, (yes I know there’s some Indie stuff still, calm down) but really at "popular" clubs it’s popular songs or radio friendly beats that can be played over and over again. Something that was fresh and new has become rehashed with sub-genres so specific that techno isn’t even the correct term for it, it’s just club music. What used to be an escape and revolution is now festivals of high schoolers hyped up on something that cost them over $300 for one day.

People have underestimated the hipster movement tremendously as a joke and see it as something that isn’t a massive movement. It is. It is a movement that creates social constraint and an inability for expression. It has affected fashion, music, and now the club culture. It’s not only cool to be hip, it is now mandatory. One must dress a certain way to receive likes on Facebook. One must know the new music to be relevant. Hipster is the “anti-different,” and if you don’t drink those craft beers, you must be partying wrong.

So to our initial question, is the New York Club scene still a thing? The answer is clear when looking at the progression of the hipster movement. With a lack of different types of venues, a clear “hip” and no options, New York is no longer… a thing.

Then, what's next?

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