The Best Between-Class Happy Hours

Johnny's Bar is marked by a neon sign. Daisy Geoffrey

It’s 5:20 p.m. and you’ve just woken up from your lecture in one of the chronically overheated rooms at the West 12th Street building. You can’t remember at what point in the class your repeated slow blink turned into a snooze, nor can you remember your logic in deciding to take three classes in a row on Wednesdays. With only 40 minutes to spare before your final class of the day at 6, you could go to the lab and wait in line for a sticky keyboard to try and start a paper — only to end up on Facebook. Or you could go have a drink.

There are tons of bars around The New School, some with dangerously cheap happy hours. Here’s a roundup of places to get a quick glass of relief, with plenty of time to get back to class.

BLT Burger (470 6th Ave.)
This joint is easily accessible from the Parsons, Jazz and Lang buildings, but you’d be hard-pressed to see anyone from school among the after-work dudes eating burgers, watching football and drinking beer. They have a decent selection of beers on tap, which are $3 from 4-7 p.m., and classic jams on the stereo that become more fun to sing along to with every sip. Well, fun for you, not for the person next to you.

Greenwich Treehouse (46 Greenwich Ave.)
Have a break on Thursdays at 5? Good. Go to Treehouse. They serve $1 drafts from 5-6 p.m., $2 drafts from 6-7 and $3 drafts from 7-8 on Thursdays. Nothing like a semi-limited time frame to drink to. Fun system, amazing deal.

Johnny’s Bar (90 Greenwich Ave.)
Just look for the sign outside that says “BAR.” Enter and do the only thing to do in a dive bar: sit, drink, repeat. $3 beers and $3.50 shots. Pay, leave, and maybe wash your hands.

Gusto 60 (Greenwich Ave.)
Beer belly getting you down (and round)? White wine is probably full of calories too, but who cares if it doesn’t make you feel bloated. From 3-7 p.m. Gusto has $6 cocktails and wine, all of which are Italian and served with pizzetta. I had a glass of Gavi (a white wine from Piedmont) and the pizzetta was the best thing I’d eaten all week — crispy crust, tomatoes, arugula, robiola bosina cheese and olive oil. Wine and fancy pizza for $6? Andiamo!

Bar 13 (35 E. 13th St.)
When your class is in the Fine Arts building and the four-hour workshop is making your blood boil, cool down with a two-for-one drink special at Bar 13, available Monday-Friday from 5-9 p.m. The atmosphere isn’t great — part bar, part club, part comedy venue — and it might not be your top destination for a fun evening. But when you need a drink, and fast, come here and get two.