The entire concept of tipping in NYC bars is lost on the new wave of tools living here.

Concept works like this: sit down, order a drink, put a twenty on the bar, pay for your drink, push a buck or two forward into the tip well, drink your drink, order another, put another 5 or 10 or 20 on the bar (shows you have money and might be in for the long haul), pay for and drink your drink and—voila!—a free one comes. Then leave a few more ones or a five and, generally guaranteed unless you are a total fucking asshole, the drinks come freer and looser as the night moves on. I see people paying beer-by-beer with cash cards these days, and muttering under their breath about the lack of buy-backs and how the place sucks. Nothing will piss off a bartender more than paying with a credit card for one drink.

NOTE: This works like a charm in neighborhood bars, not the fucking Rainbow Room. It also works in train and bus station bars, and even most top-notch restaurants.