Bring On The Nubiles!

As the haves and have-mores scratch, claw and bite their way into the top tenth of the top one percent, a parasitic support structure scoops up the crumbs of excess:

There were 500 votive candles, a half-dozen Christmas trees, four scantily-clad elves, two caricature artists, one giant inflatable basketball game and a killer skyline view. But what really impressed guests at the party that Fox Interactive Media, an online group, gave on Wednesday was the vintage arcade-style Ms. Pac-Man machine.

“That,” said Adam Sumner, a 23-year-old media planner, “was awesome.”

The Scotch tasting didn’t hurt, either. “Pairing it with chocolate was really nice,” said Rohanie Singh, 29, who works in advertising.

“I give this party an 8.5,” said her friend Michael Jacobson, 29, an Internet consultant. “It reminds me of the dot-com era. What would make it better is if they had a Santa dancing in a thong on the bar. That would be like a 9.5.”

The holiday party season is in full swing, and even without a naked Santa, there is a lot going on. Business has been booming at new steakhouses like STK in the meatpacking district and Porter House New York in the Time Warner Center, at the resurrected palaces of excess Le Cirque and the Russian Tea Room, and at the Nokia Theater in Times Square, a newer addition to the music and event circuit. All are fully booked this month — and into the next — with events for financial companies, law firms, media conglomerates and tech businesses.

Corporate party planners say that 2006 is shaping up to be a good year:

“We’re having a really ridiculous fabulous season,” said Serena Bass, the Manhattan caterer who has spent more than two decades in the corporate party business. “Two-thousand four was not so great. Last year was better, and this year is really, really great. The numbers are bigger. Last year we were getting a lot of 150. Now were getting 250, 350, 450.”

Ninety percent of the parties at the Russian Tea Room, which reopened last month, will have caviar and vodka service, at a cost of as much as $500 a person, said Ken Biberaj, a spokesman for the restaurant. Even ice sculptures are back: behind the glowing white bar at the Fox party, held at Studio 450, a loft in Chelsea, there was one in the shape of a giant letter I (for “Interactive”).

As lavish as the parties are, they are still not quite up to dot-com era excess. But at a time when the Dow has reached new highs and the haves are evolving into the have mores, these celebrations are more in line with the buoyant economic mood than with the discouraging situation in Iraq. This season, there is a greater willingness to throw more-elaborate parties, complete with themes, video displays and specialty cocktails.

“In the past, we had the idea, ‘We’re in a war,'” said Danielle Venokur, the general manager of L’Olivier, a florist and event production company with offices in Chelsea and on the Upper East Side. “But for some reason, that’s not in the forefront of everyone’s mind right now.” She paused before adding: “That’s a little scary.”

As if to underscore the importance of the Bush tax cuts in all this, a recent phenomenon emerges:

To liven up their events even further, many planners are borrowing ideas from clubland and Hollywood, creating plush lounges and adding $5,000 lighting set-ups and video effects. Some are even offering bottle service and V.I.P. seating, where chief executives and other high-ranking officials either occupy a separate area of the party, or have a more private event with, as Ms. Bass put it, “less loud music, slightly brighter lights and better wine” before their employees are admitted.

“We’ve gotten several requests for club-style additions to the party,” said Joseph Cozza, the vice president of sales for banquet spaces at Cipriani. “Different environments are very popular, either a small lounge area or deluxe bars.”