After today, we'll be on break until January 2nd, 2008.

And the massive four-day bender starts ... Now.

What's that you say? You still don't have jack to do on NYE? And you're still broke and lazy? OK, settle down. Reservations for these last-minute events are still available, and though they're not free, the price tag is still far less than what you'll spend at the city's countless VIP club events--plus you get to keep your dignity at no extra charge. So, between last week's Poor Man's Guide to NYE, the official Citysearch NYE '08 Planner and these last-minute options, if you still can't get your act together for New Year's Eve, you're on your own.

Salud
Miami Beach comes to the South Street Seaport for New Year's, in the form of a cheap, three-course New Year's Eve dinner, complete with a live salsa band (9pm-1am). Guests will also enjoy champagne mojitos with dessert, tropical party favors and prizes, complimentary cigars and a suggested "wear white" dress code. More importantly, the bar will be open until 4am (for those of you with selective vision, that's "bar open," not "open bar"). Dinner will be served during three time slots: 5pm ($45), 7pm ($55) and 10pm ($65). Unless you're spending NYE with your grandparents, you'll want to get in at 7pm or 10pm--and so will everyone else, so stop procrastinating and make a res ASAP.

Pangea
The East Village resto is offering a three-course dinner menu from 10pm to 1am for the phenomenally low price of $35 (not including tax, tip or booze). The same menu is also available a la carte until 9:30pm. Make a reservation for 10pm or later and partake in the NYE fun with complimentary hats, noisemakers and balloons, with a midnight countdown and dancing until 3am. As of now, reservations are still available--call Stephen Shanaghan at 212-995-0900 and tell him Citysearch sent you.

Oulu
In the words of Oulu's events coordinator, this party is for "Brooklynites who are a little more art and a little less trust fund." We don't care if you're a hipster, in fact, even if you're just a kid from the Upper East Side with a Metrocard and dream, then you, too, can head to the eco-chic lounge on New Year's, where $50 will get you access to an open bar (well drinks only) from 10pm to 2am. Although tickets will be available at the door, buying them in advance is highly recommended.

If you've been in an NYC taxi with a video screen in the last few weeks, perhaps you've seen the ABC segment that features the Bloc Group's Matthew Isaacs and Jordan Harris, up-and-coming party promoters extraordinaire. Now you'll have the chance to see the fruits of their labor at The Plumm, where they'll host a private event tonight to celebrate the 29th anniversary of John Legend's birth. Music will be provided by Macy Gray and Funkmaster Flex,  and we're told a duet performance by John and Macy is "extremely likely." Other celebs slated to attend include Kanye West, Kirsten Dunst, and actor/Plumm co-owner Jesse Bradford. And don't worry about running off to see Jacob the Jeweler, because John doesn't want gifts. Instead, he'd like you to make a donation to the Show Me Campaign, a charity he founded to combat poverty in Ghana. Either way, don't forget to RSVP, and even if you're planning to buy bottles I suggest arriving early--in a crowd of Black Card holders, no one is going to impressed by your AMEX Gold.

They're finally letting us out of the cage for the holiday weekend, but I'll be back in the office next Thursday with more of the nightlife-related gossip, news, speculation and witty commentary you've come to expect from the booze blog. Or something like that. The important thing is that New Year's Eve is coming soon, so take our advice and don't drop the ball, or, if you're a broke, lazy drunk who's incapable of making drinking plans in advance, we have something for you too. Happy holidays!

Above: What Great Depression?! These revelers are all smiles on NYE in 1930! Maybe that's because in 1930, it only cost a nickel at the door! (Photo via View Images)

So, New Year's Eve--that dreaded night when it is unacceptable to stay home (unless you're either throwing a party, getting laid, or terminally ill)--is fast approaching, and you're broke, lazy and too much of a drunk to remember to make your drinking plans in advance. Well, cheer up, sport, because you're not alone. Rather than drop upwards of $150 just to get in the door (tack on at least $100 for a table) to a club where a bunch of douchebags will be taking full advantage of a six-hour open bar (and then your girlfriend), head to one of these six more affordable parties this New Year's Eve, and have money leftover for drugs cabs.

Roseland Ballroom
The worst part about expensive open bar parties is that they're always a disappointment--after you shell out $200, you arrive only to discover that shots and name-brand booze aren't included, and the bar is so slammed that it takes you an hour just to get a weak mixed drink served in a miniature plastic cup. Why not spend New Year's drinking at a good old-fashioned cash bar? That's the deal at Roseland: General admission is $35 and gets you into the pay-as-you-go NYE celebration hosted by Mya. Plus you're just a few blocks north of Times Square when the ball drops--which is either really awesome or really tragic, depending on your preference.

The Cabanas at the Maritime Hotel
For the baller on a budget who wants to spend New Year's Eve somewhere respectable that sounds more expensive than it is, buy a $60 ticket to The Cabanas' party (8pm-4am). There's a one-hour open vodka bar, so bring friends who don't plan to buy drinks but are willing to pay $60 just to have a destination on NYE, or bring a booze funnel so you can get your money's worth during the open bar. Your ticket stub is also your ticket to the after-party at Lotus (4am-8am), but whether or not it will actually get you in to Lotus is anyone's guess.

And the other four?

Nearly one year after love-it-or-hate-it dive bar Martignetti Liquors closed its doors, a new rock bar called National Underground is set to open in the space as early as tomorrow, reports Urban Daddy. Judging from the photo, the new bar doesn't look all that different from 'Netti's (where, it should be known, I used to bartend). From what I can tell, singer/songwriter/owner Gavin DeGraw made some basic improvements, adding a fancy logo and foot/arm rail to the bar, in addition to some new light fixtures, tables and chairs, and a curtain sectioning off the elevated back area. The DJ booth and the tattered benches that once lined the right wall seem to have been ripped out to make room for a stage-less performance area, where DeGraw will supposedly use his "'industry clout' to put on a steady stream of acts worth seeing up close--think backstage at a Fever Dog show with a little Johnny Cash and Jack Daniels thrown in," says UD. The lower level bar may have undergone slightly more extensive improvements (including the addition of booths), but the general layout and infrastructure appear to be intact--no word yet on the leaky ceilings and less than stellar plumbing for which Martignetti Liquors was famous. Either way, it does seem safe to assume that many of the kids who can't flex their way into the Martignetti's newer venture may be eager to revisit the new incarnation of the beloved Houston Street bar, where they spent many a night tossing back $8 Warchild shots served in plastic cups and making out with strangers to the tune of "Jesse's Girl."

If all goes according to plan, National Underground will be open for business as of tomorrow, Thursday, December 20th.

(Photo courtesy of Urban Daddy.)

Above: Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer and Aziz Ansari are Human Giant

Ordinarily, the chances of me going out on a Monday night are nil, especially in this brick-ass cold. But with my television withdrawal giving me an increasingly nasty case of the shakes, I took the opportunity to check out last night's sneak preview of the new season of "Human Giant"--the best thing to happen to MTV's comedy programming (or rather, MTV period) since "The State"-- hosted by the Human Giants themselves.

As any proper night should, this one began with drinks. Various members of the press (editors and writers from Maxim, the NY Post, the Village Voice, ASCAP, Giant, and other publications) assembled beforehand at West Chelsea haunt Half King, along with the show's stars, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer and Aziz Ansari, before making the troupe to the UCB Theater.

It's that time of year again--time to decide where to spend NYE drinking 'til you forget what year it is in the first place. As always, nearly every bar and club in the city has put together ticketed packages which run about $125-$200 for general admission (add $100 for tables with bottle service) and cover a premium open bar, passed hors d'oeuvres, a champagne toast at midnight, and a live feed of the ball drop from Times Square. There is essentially zero variation from one party to the next, other than the venue itself and the DJ.

For those who are unfamiliar with New Year's in the city, I implore you to be prepared if you want to go to a bar or club on December 31st: With very few exceptions, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET IN ANYWHERE WITHOUT A TICKET (and even then you may still find yourself waiting on line), so don't expect to play it by ear or bar hop the way you might on any other night out. Additional things to consider before heading out: The chances that you'll find a cab on New Year's Eve are about as likely as the chances you'll stay sober. Take the subway or, if you can afford it (and if your plans don't require you to pass through Times Square), make a reservation in advance for a car service to pick you up and take you to your destination.

With all of that in mind, we've selected this year's best activities, parties, and dinner packages in our comprehensive New Year's Eve planner to help you decide how and where to spend the night. For additional info on any of these events, we suggest contacting the venues directly. Finally, if you plan to do a party package this year, remember to get your tickets as soon as possible--because the only thing worse than going out in the city on New Year's Eve is not going out.

On November 13, we speculated that 1 Oak--the new club from Butter owners Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano--would open in roughly four to six weeks, after a construction worker we spoke with estimated that it would be ready in two. Well, as fate would have it, this week (exactly one month later) several different sources (from New York Magazine to Down By The Hipster to The Gluttoness ) reported that the long-awaited Chelsea hot spot would finally host its first event, One Model Management's holiday party, last night.

Seeing as how our fancy offices at the IAC building are just two blocks away from 1 Oak, I did a quick walk-by after work last night and snapped the above photo. Granted, it was early (around 7pm), but from what little I could glean, the first guests to christen the new bar were, well, dudes--and not male model dudes, but like average, unglamorous, finance-type of dudes. Maybe the models were stuck in traffic, or maybe I just happened to walk by just as One Model Management's accounting department was arriving--you know, so they could get in before the door became selective. Lucky for them, at least this early in the evening, it was not.

But when 1 Oak opens to the "public" (supposedly sometime in January), Richie and Scott, bless their hearts, won't be letting bankers in just because they'll drop cash on a bottle--no, as Mr. Sartiano told the New York Times, they intend to save New York nightlife, and at 1 Oak, "First you need to get in. Then you need to be cool enough to get a table. Then you can get bottles." So, for the guys whose social status depends solely on the size of their bankroll, take note: That might fly over at Marquee, but it ain't gonna get you in the door at 1 Oak. But if you are one of the select few that can prove first that you're worthy of sitting at a banquette, and then that you deserve to drop several hundred dollars on a bottle of Goose, then perhaps this place won't be a massive disappointment after all.

'Tis the season for holiday parties! Also, this Saturday is the biggest night of the year for wild get-togethers. You've got friends, you've got an apartment ... but you don't have much cash.

Don't worry, you can create a party with even the most meager budget. Start off with wheels of cheese for around $4 at East Village Cheese. Head down past Houston to New Beer Wholesale Distributors in the LES for 30 packs of Coors Light for only $21.50 (Don't worry, there's a wide selection of craft and foreign beers for the more refined beer drinker). Next, bother your friend with a car to take you to Costco, where you don't need a membership card to buy the super-cheap liquor. Don't forget the glasses: You can score extremely hip ones for cheap at the newly opened CB2 in Soho.

Check out more thrifty party-throwing ideas with our Throw a Raging Party for Almost Nothing feature.