Make the Most of Happy Hour

How do people with normal salaries manage to enjoy any of New York's costly charms? Simple charms, like paying your rent and eating.

Sunday's New York Times article, Starting Salaries, but New York Tastes, brings back memories for me that ain't so far behind. The article refers to the "young newcomers to the city of a certain income — that is, those who are neither investment bankers nor being floated by their parents."

That describes me and everyone in my circle of friends when I arrived in late 1992.

I was so naive about the cost of living in New York, I thought I could share a two-bedroom apartment for $500 a month. I quickly upped my price to $650 and two roommates. I got an overdraft line of credit on my checking account. I dipped into it and paid it back every pay cycle.

Here are some other tactics either I or one of my friends resorted to:

• Bringing a flask of vodka to bars (Alexi swill vodka, no less)
  

• Seeking out Happy Hours with free food (a nod to the former Grappino's on 39th Street)

• Giving up blondeness (that wasn't me)

• Joining a group for drinks after they've gone to dinner

• Attending art openings for the free wine

• Putting hot baked potatoes in my pockets to keep my hands warm on the way to school (Wait, I'm misremembering. That was Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.)

The scraping-by syndrome can last much longer than a couple of years out of college, even among professionals who get promotions and raises. People rely on business dinners to experience great New York restaurants for much of their careers. And for some musicians, actors and writers, scraping by is forever.