New York parties and the nightlife kingpins behind them

Nightlife is brimming with scintillating soirees of all sorts—but those shindigs don’t just appear out of thin air. Here are a few of our favorite impresarios—such as Shien Lee, and Jules Kim and Katie Longmyer—from the current crop behind five essential New York parties.

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Paul Raffaele, cofounder of the city’s premier house-music organization, the Dog & Pony Show (dogandponynyc.com)

Origins
“Growing up in Staten Island, both [fellow founder Dave Kers and I] ventured out to the city a lot as kids, totally enamored by Manhattan’s after-hours scene. Eventually we decided to start a party just for our friends to hang out and DJ at. From there it evolved into bringing our favorite producers to play. We get the most satisfaction from giving a breaking artist an amazing party in our city. If that’s done right, then the patrons have an amazing time as a result.”

The party
“From the very first moment a potential partygoer comes into contact with our brand, we want them to have fun. From the time someone looks at one of our ridiculous flyers, we’re encouraging people to smile and have a good time. It’s not a cool contest, or a place for an ego, it’s just big smiles and heavy house and disco vibes!”

What you’ve missed so far
“We did a party at W.I.P. when it just opened with the Revenge and 6th Borough Project, who we’d been wanting to book (and meet) for a really long time. That party absolutely went off. Jimmy Edgar was amazing at Le Bain in October, and last month’s Eats Everything New York debut blew everyone’s mind!”

Next event: The Dog & Pony Show Presents 6th Borough Project + The Revenge + Mark E at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St at Thompson St (212-505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com). Jan 26 at 11pm; $20.