Hammerstein Ballroom at Manhattan Center — Attraction in New York

The Chapter of Firsts:

Upon the behest of my friend, I accompanied her to the Z100 All Access Pass last week. During this event, we got to watch incredible live performances from Megan Trainor and Charli XCX, while feeding our hoarding tendencies.

That's kind of where the perks stopped.

The 1st of the firsts included my clumsy hipster sneaker getting caught on a vendor table cloth. I went flying. To my credit, I tried to fall short of that terrified little girl near the balcony, but the universe knows, I am not that coordinated. And so, headlong into that curly-haired 10 yr old, I went. Horrified was her father who didn't say a word and somehow said it all with his eyes.

After recovering from that embarrassing "flight" (check out that perfectly-placed pun), my friend and I snagged a couple of steps and utilized them as seating. In between sets, I chatted up my friend about the artists. And then came the saddest excuse for a bully. He started making racial slurs at my friend and I, to which I immediately told him to Shut The Front Door, if you catch my drift.

Being as he kept such good company in the form of 3 catty and vicious female miscreants, he felt the need to continue berating me. As I was about to handle him, a sound tech tried to get past the trolls. They ignored his request, and as he proceeded to step over them, one of the females shoved him. That little beast shoved him so hard that he stumbled and kneed me right in the back.

At this point, Jenn has upgraded to 'ape-irate' status. I got up and was about to notify security, when the stupid guy then attacked the sound tech with cheap styrofoam. Sound guy defends himself and the rest happened so fast, it was almost a blur. I say almost because I distinctly remember the cold Coke inadvertently being thrown into my face. I've always wondered what a Real Housewife of NJ or Atlanta was experiencing in that moment. I'll be honest, I always pictured me as the tosser and not the receiver. That was my 2nd first.

Lastly, I was no longer going to wait for the tortoise-powered security to show up and save me. I took a moment to wipe the sweet beverage from my eyes, and then confronted the self-entitled hoodlum. At this point, my voice could be heard pretty far across the rows of bewildered humans. Isn't it funny how quiet bullies become when someone actually stands up to them?

Lesson for all the wannabe trolls out there: you had better be ready for a throw-down if you insult someone's family & heritage.

On the way out, as he was being dragged by the lost-but-now-found, security, he meekly said, "let's take it outside." As I smirked at him, my only thought was, "looks like you're the one being taken out."

You can't operate a large venue without great security. The poor rating is for the slow security response. In the time that it took for them to arrive on scene, someone could have really been hurt. We were on the upper balcony section, and there were only a few steps separating us from pancake-dom. And after they took him away, you would think that they'd question him for assault. But no, they just released him to the wind.

I don't see how this was a proper way to handle it. I ended up leaving my contact information and asking why he wasn't held and made accountable. The security guard replied, "we're trying to figure that out now." It wasn't as if it was a sudoku puzzle.

A vendor who witnessed the whole ordeal told me that the same hoodrat had been hassling a bunch of other people. She had called for security for a while. This whole ordeal could have been avoided.

His men messed up BIG time. I attempted to contact the venue through Twitter and heard nothing back. Shame on you all & shame on The Hammerstein for hiring...

Went last night for the Pierce the Veil but actually went to see the opening band PVRIS. Was on line at 5pm. Doors open was supposed to be 6pm. They opened late by 30 minutes and the line barely moved. They only had one door open to let people in. Talk about a bottle neck. Once inside they only had 4 people scanning tickets. FOR over 3000 people! Are you kidding me. I missed the opening band and part of the second band and I was given no explanation as to why they opened late. Just a bunch of sorrys. Outside and lobby staff were useless and unprofessional. Ushers and bartenders were nice and attentive though. Don't care about the overpriced drinks or dirty bathrooms and outdated decor. These old dive theaters in Manhattan are all the same but you have to make sure the people that are on line when doors open GET IN!!! I paid for 3 tickets to see my favorite band plus parking, gas, tolls and waited outside for 2 and a half hours for nothing. As someone that has been in the business world for over 20 years I've come to some conclusions. This place is poorly managed. Worst I've seen. Horribly untrained staff and most of all terribly understaffed. I've been to multiple venues that are a fraction of the size of Hammerstein and yet they have 3 to 4 times the amount of front end employees checking people in, with all doors open to alleviate congestion on entrance. It's almost comical how poorly this place is run. I'm guessing any good ratings for this venue were just luck or shows that weren't close to sold out. If you're coming to a sold out show, get here hours earlier and good luck with coat check and the bathrooms. So many better venues than this place. Best Buy theater for example. You can show up 10 minutes before doors open and be inside in 25 minutes. Plenty of time to coat check, hit the bathroom and get a drink before the opening act even come out. Of course they know what their doing and have a large knowledgeable staff. Hint, hint! I was worried about coming here because I was warned by so many people that this venue is pretty bad and hit or miss with getting in on time. I wished I listened. I will never come back here. I can't afford to spend all this money and time and effort to not even be let it on time. Heed my warning. This place is as...

I am very sad to be leaving such a review. My husband and I attended a concert at Hammerstein on 10/28/2023. Our tickets said the doors opened at 6:30pm, so we arrived at 6:50pm to enter the venue. After waiting for 40 minutes to get to doors of the venue due to the line for entry being wrapped completely around the block, all security staff started to scream at every single person that approached the doors.

They were telling people to throw away vapes and smoke them now, because if they bring one inside to the metal detector area, the staff will throw them away themselves. I saw thousands of dollars of e smoking devices get thrown away by security. This is absolutely hilarious to me because I saw plenty of people smoking inside the venue anyway.

Then, when it was finally time for me to empty my pockets to go through the metal detector, I was stopped by security because I had Afrin nasal spray. I was told this was a prohibited and dangerous item and it just be thrown away or I couldn’t go inside the venue. I said “the TSA allows me to have Afrin.” And was told that didn’t matter and was screamed at for pointing this out.

When I arrived at the balcony seating area, I was shocked to find that I could order 4 alcoholic beverages all by myself at the bar. So apparently me having a clear nose is more dangerous than allowing me to purchase 4 alcoholic drinks at a time.

Anyway, once I finally sat down with my many drinks, everyone was talking about how good the first act of the night was. I was beyond confused, because my ticket said that the doors didn’t open until 6:30pm. The other guests around me let me know that they happened to arrive at the venue before 6pm and were allowed entry. Upon checking one band’s Instagram page, the doors actually opened at 5:30pm and the first act began at 6:30pm. How in the world am I supposed to know that the venue is going to start an entire hour early?? I received no communication regarding these time changes.

I left heartbroken, with a stuffy nose, and drunk. I would never attend an event...