Best of NYC®

Soda bans, smoking bans, fast-food shaming—having a guilt-free good time in New York City has been as difficult as finding a french fry cooked in trans fat. But with Mayor Bloomberg's nanny state on its way out, it's time to put down that gluten-free wheatgrass smoothie and reclaim our title as the live-like-there's-no-tomorrow New Yorkers we are.

It's time for a return to excess.

To that end, consider this Best of NYC 2013 issue a guide to finding your way back to overindulgence. Embrace your inner libertine with our 300 winners, including "Best Dance Floor Scrum," "Best Strip Club," "Best Cheap Manhattan Dive," "Best Horse Track," "Best Sexcessories," "Best Tattoo Parlor," "Best Unhealthy Meal," "Best Edible Insect" (not the same as "Best Unhealthy Meal"), and—because every hedonist needs some recovery time—"Best Cure for a Hangover."

As always, our picks of everything we love so much about NYC are completely subjective: simply the people, places, and things that we believe make New York City the best in the world. Which is why we asked all of you to share your favorites with us via our Readers' Poll; you'll find those results alongside our selections.

So go on, turn the page, and get a head start on the road to rediscovering honest-to-goodness liberalism. We dare you.

Best Of NYC 2013 contributors

Writers: Angela Ashman, R.C. Baker, Allen Barra, Heather Baysa, Tom Cowell, Araceli Cruz, Belle Cushing, Zachary Feldman, James A. Foley, Nick Greene, Bradley Hawks, Pete Kotz, Scarlett Lindeman, Nick Lucchesi, John Luong, Billy Lyons, Brian McManus, Anna Merlan, Lauren Mowery, Nick Murray, Hannah Palmer Egan, Graham Rayman, Albert Samaha, Alan Scherstuhl, Laura Shunk, Alexis Soloski, Rob Staeger, Tessa Stuart, Eve Turow, Christian Viveros-Fauné, Stephanie Zacharek, Elizabeth Zimmer
Copy Chief: Meave Gallagher
Fact Checking and Proofreading: Belle Cushing, Jennifer Hetrick, Gabrielle Lipton, Joanna McGibbon, Chris Packham, Dalene Rovenstine, Rob Staeger, Amanda Woytus
Design & Layout: Tom Carlson, Jesus Diaz
Illustration: Michael Waraksa