Number Madness   for BlackBook Magazine Last night I had dinner at Bar 89, stopped by 23 Watts for a drink, and then lounged at 357 for a few late night hours. The next morning, I had brunch with a friend at 535, and when she asked me where I had been the prior night, I felt the need to pull out my phone book to recite all the of the places I had been to. We both laughed and considered what gallery we should visit after eating: Gallery 292, Gallery 456, 494 Gallery, Gallery 5, 55 Mercer, or Gallery 91. No, this is not an excerpt from Aldous Huxley’s futuristic novel “Brave New World”. This is New York City of today. Furthermore, I do not purposely plan my nights to hit number-spots. I could have chosen any number of different New York City bars: Bar 9, Bar 6, Bar 13, Bar 54, Bar 85, 119 Bar, 169 Bar, or 55 Bar. If I had wanted to dine in the exponentially expanding East Village, I would have had some fabulous number-letter combinations to choose from such as 7A, 7B, 2A, and 9C. If I were in a letter-less mood all together, there would still be several Manhattan options available to chose from, since “straight numbering” is a New York favorite, with First, One & One, One 51, 1, 13, 21, 44 44, 76, 288, 57 57, 147, 247, 233, 203, and 205 topping the list. The phenomenon of naming restaurants, bars and clubs after their street address (or some other random number) has reached levels of absurdity, and is due to reach a new ridiculous high with the opening in September of a new SoHo hotel by the name-number of 60 Thompson. The owners cringe at anyone who calls it “60 Thompson Hotel”, and correct them: “No. There’s no ‘hotel’ at the end. It’s just ‘60 Thompson.’