Vinyl

6 Hubert St at Hudson St (212-343-1379)


Subway: A, C, E to Canal St; 1, 9 to Franklin St. Hours vary with event.





This space has housed many clubs of note, including the legendary art-disco Area in the mid-'80s and the not-quite-as-legendary early-'90s underground dance club Shelter. Vinyl still features Timmy Regisford (the main man at Shelter and a sometime DJ at Area) on Saturdays, who spins Paradise Garage retreads and current R&B-flavored house (what the English call 'garage') for a devoted crowd. Fridays alternate between Goa trance parties and biweekly stints by the brilliant Danny Tenaglia. Tenaglia is an extremely highly regarded spinner who grew up in the Garage and over the course of a ten-hour set spins everything from deep vocal house and Garage disco classics to hard but funky techno. Sunday afternoon's Body & Soul tea dance is probably the trendiest club in the world at the moment. Revered DJ/producer/remixer François K. (who actually filled in for Larry Levan at the Garage), along with Joe Claussell and veteran New York jock Danny Krivit, spin soulful house and Garage classics. It's similar to Shelter musically and conceptually, though the DJs' selections are more interesting. Ironically, Vinyl unintentionally became a bit like the alcohol-free Garage when the club's liquor license was revoked in 1997.

That Was The Millenium That Was

Looking for a Christmas gift for the discerning somebody who has everything? Try the Goodman Gallery's Christmas Show for some festive shopping - if your budget stretches to works of art... The exhibition features highlights from the year's shows, with a variety of new and older works from artists such as Lisa Brice, Robert Hodgins, Durant Sihlali, Keith Dietrich, William Kentridge, Frances Goodman, Hentie van der Merwe, Moshekwa Langa and Clive van den Berg.

Butyskaya Prison

Butyskaya is the most notorious prison in the city. Lev Tolstoy is said to have written here, Harry Houdini escaped from here and Fyodor Chaliapin sang here. You can find about them and its thousands of other visitors in a fascinating weekly museum tour. On show are chess pieces, necklaces and dominoes created by prisoners out of bread and a history of the various inventive escape attempts. The prison is still working and be warned - the tour guards tend to treat you as if you have come for a five-year-stretch.

Le Petit Marseillais

Ever since two childhood friends from Marseille opened this cosy place it's been packed with a hip, friendly crowd - which is just as well, since seating in this small dark red room is decidedly cheek-by-jowl. The Marseillais home-cooked menu changes regularly. Starters like the sautéed pleurottes with garlic and parsley or salad of mixed leaves with tiny scallops are appealing, as are main courses like tagliatelle with pistou sauce and hunks of parmesan, sautéed squid and roast lamb. The Domaine d'Ott Côtes de Provence is really excellent drinking at 130F.

Stonehenge Large

Don Hill's

511 Greenwich St at Spring St (212-334-1390)


Subway: 1, 9 to Houston St. Tue-Sun 10pm-4am.





Don Hill's is half dance club, half live-music venue, and its best night, Squeezebox, combines both: It's a gay rock party, with live bands and a drag queen DJ spinning glammy, punky, scummy rock for a mixed (but queer in appearance and sensibility) crowd. Fashion and music celebrities regularly make appearances at this festive alternative to house music all night long.

Fujian Road. Shanghai

War Stories

'War Stories', the latest exhibition from the interactive museum of news, begins with the 1855 Crimean War and runs through and beyond the news-saturated Persian Gulf War. It documents the people and methods involved in covering wars throughout history. The show is typical Newseum with multimedia (newspaper pages, photos, films, TV, newsreels) and interactive exhibits (sections designed by 'American Century' author and guest curator Harold Evans) that are always fascinating and very popular.

Chez Vincent

Brussels is one of the best places to eat in the world but you'll be well advised to avoid the over-priced restaurants around the Grand Place and the streets leading to the Petit Rue des Bouchers. There's always an exception though and in this case it is Chez Vincent. Soon to celebrate its centenary, this is the place where you'll find classic Belgian dishes such as steak-frites and eels in herb sauce.

Le Voyageur sans tête

'Max loses... his head' in this weird and wacky world inhabited by fantastic creatures. The title actually translates as 'The Headless Traveller'. American director Richard Zachary's critically-acclaimed mime and music extravaganza has been such a huge hit with kids that it's had its run extended by four weeks. Tickets cost between 70F and 110F.

DanzAbierta

Information: Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba, Calle 4 #103, entre Calzada y 5ta, Vedado (information 334387)








Under the direction of Marianela Boán, a former dancer in Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, DanzAbierta creates what could be described as Cubanised post-modernism. Boán is regarded as the grande dame of contemporary dance and innovatively mixes the gestures of everyday life with social and political comment and techniques reminiscent of Pina Bausch. Her best pieces of recent years are El Pez en el Asfalto , a witty reflection on the absurdities of the Special Period; and El çrbol y el Camino , in which five naked dancers use coat-hangers like branches to portray the tree of life. The company rehearses at the Conjunto Folclórico Nacional building and performs in the Gran Teatro, Teatro Mella and Teatro Nacional. The company made its UK debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2000, where its production of El Pez en el Asfalto gained a huge amount of critical acclaim.