After-Prom Fiasco in the Making?

With final exams approaching this month and the end in sight for seniors, prom is in the spotlight. While prom and after-prom are seemingly rites of passage for high school students, what should be a festive and joyous celebration has in some prior years ended on a sour note.

Each year, one or more seniors orchestrate an after-prom party, and this year is no different. Following in the footsteps of two older siblings, a Scarsdale High School senior has planned and sold tickets to an after-prom party, this year to be held at a Manhattan club, 49 Grove. As reported in an online Scarsdale Maroon article (June 8, 2011) regarding the 2011 after-prom party, "According to many, the venue appeared overbooked. 'I guess they sold more tickets than they were actually allowed to,' said a junior boy. Club manager Tracey Hill expressed her frustration with [the SHS organizer]. 'He lied to us. I don't know how many [tickets] he sold, he told us 280, [but] I would say it was over that [number],' she said."

Tickets to this year's after-prom went on sale this week in a public parking lot in Scarsdale: $80.00 per ticket for the first 50 tickets sold, and $95.00 thereafter.

While after-prom venues have been oversold resulting in overcrowded and possibly unsafe conditions in the past, the tradition amazingly lives on. In some cases, students who prepaid exorbitant amounts for tickets have been denied access to the event, though, from a safety perspective, this year it could be fortuitous. The 2013 after-prom venue, 49 Grove, is a basement space as described in the following comments posted on the popular website Yelp:

"#1 most serious complaint: a basement bar WITH NO REAR EXIT. No way out except for the same tiny ENTRY STAIRCASE you entered. For 200 people? One narrow staircase? Clogged with people coming down, all wearing heels. Single-file. Are you kidding me? How does this place stay open; its a death trap and a body-count waiting to happen."

"49 Grove has terribly low ceilings, is carpeted and they jam people in like anchovies."

"Pay a ton of money for the chance to stand around in utter discomfort.... mill around in a *windowless* basement...? Pay a $20 door cover"

While there were some positive comments on YELP about 49 Grove, this does not appear to be a suitable venue for 17 and 18 year olds.

Of course safety is the primary concern, but if this year's after-prom is anything like the 2011 after-prom affair, $80.00 - $95.00 doesn't buy you much. According to the Scarsdale Maroon article with regard to tickets that ranged in cost from $70.00 – $90.00 for the 2011 after-prom party, "Tickets guaranteed entrance into the club, and the party organizers charged an additional $5 for unlimited, non-alcoholic drinks. There was no food served, other than pretzels and chips." Students and parents feel scammed by after-prom organizers who charge astronomical ticket prices that possibly allow only entrance (tickets appear to cost $20.00 for admission to 49 Grove for non-SHS patrons) to an overcrowded club and nothing more. Perhaps it could be said that parents should not provide students with funds to purchase after-prom tickets, but many students have money they have saved from jobs or other sources so they can purchase the tickets themselves.

From the online Maroon article about 2011 after-prom: "Multiple kids threw up upstairs and also broke tables, so the staff at the club closed it off and sent all of the guests downstairs." And so ended 2011 after-prom. Will this be the case for after-prom 2013...or worse?

This article was submitted by a concerned Scarsdale parent.