It's prom season - and fun-loving teens from the posh private schools of the Upper East Side to the parochial institutes of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, are shelling out as much as $3,000 each on one night of romance and revelry.
"I want to make this night special," says Flushing HS senior Brian Alvarado. "So why not go all the way?" The must-have prom accessory of 2004 is the sleek, super-sized Hummer 2 SUV - at a cost of around $2,400 for a night of awesome cruising.
For Angelo Casale, 17, a senior from Xaverian HS in Bay Ridge, renting a Hummer - which comes complete with a PlayStation 2, a flat-screen TV and strobe lights - is all about crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in style. The 34-foot limo will transport Angelo, his date and 16 of their closest pals to the venerable Waldorf-Astoria for a prom May 7. After the prom, they'll party at the Roxy and then cruise to the Jersey Shore for two additional days of partying.
"The kids want to be like Britney, Jay-Z or Beyoncé for the night," says Frank DeLuca, the owner of Excalibur Extravaganza limousine in Bay Ridge, who's booked out his Hummer for 21 proms this season.
"This is their last hurrah before going off to school and stepping out into the big world."
For Brian Alvarado, prom night isn't just about fancy cars - it's about true love.
Just a few months ago, the 18-year-old would never have believed that he'd be escorting his "dream date" to her June 11 prom, at SoHo's posh Puck Building.
Alvarado fell for Shana Melendez, 17, "from day one" when they met as freshmen at Martin Luther King HS in Manhattan four years ago. But try as he might, he couldn't spark a romance with her until January of this year, after he transferred to Flushing.
"You grow up and realize that your best friend is the best person for you," says Shana, who lives in Brooklyn and wants to go to Queens College in the fall. "He understands me more than anyone else, he's an awesome boyfriend."
Brian's goal for prom night is to show Shana a spectacular time - and he's prepared to spend $2,500 to please her. Shana will lay out an additional $700 for a Giovanni dress, haircut, shoes, purse, manicure and pedicure.
Instead of crowding into a limo with a rowdy bunch of classmates, the romantic duo will be tooling around Gotham in a Rolls-Royce, priced at $1,200 for the evening.
They'll spend part of the next morning getting shiatsu body massages at a Midtown spa and hotel - total cost about $400.
Prom tickets cost $140 apiece and the dapper dude is shopping for his own swanky tuxedo for around $300.
He's also planning a next-day romantic horse-and-carriage ride around Central Park and a possible rendezvous with friends at Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Staten Island teen Takisha Jones is hoping she'll look at hot as J.Lo at her June prom.
After weeks of poring through magazines and watching DVDs, she's decided to model her dress on the peach-colored strapless silk gown that Jennifer Lopez wore in the flick "Maid in Manhattan."
"I'm perfect for that dress," the Curtis HS senior gushed. "It's really beautiful and fits my own style, my idea of what a princess would look like. Every time J.Lo moved in that dress, it just flowed. I love it."
Takisha is having the stunning gown made for her by a dressmaker in Queens for $400.
She says she plans to spare no expense, budgeting about $1,500 to cover hairstyling, shoes, costume jewelry, makeup, and a "sexy but casual" after-prom dress for the June 4 prom that's being held on a cruise ship in Manhattan Harbor.
"I've been looking forward to this night since freshman year," said Takisha, who will attend the prom with her boyfriend, Carlos. "After four years of hard work, it's just a night to be loose."
When the prom party wraps up around midnight, Takisha said she'll continue partying at the Copacabana and then go back out to sea for an early morning breakfast cruise. The pair will end the date with a romantic rendezvous at a Long Island beach.
Many affluent Manhattan prep-school teens will spend their after-prom weekend at summer homes in the Hamptons.
An 18-year old Spence School student who didn't want her name published will probably spend close to $3,000 for the final blowout at the Waldorf-Astoria in June. She recently bought a Martin Grant couture white strapless dress at Barneys that the sales staff says cost between $850 and $1,300.
"You sort of want to feel pampered because it's the last big bang of your high-school career," she says. "To me it's not about romance or losing your virginity, it's about sharing an evening of fun with my friends."
It's prom season - and fun-loving teens from the posh private schools of the Upper East Side to the parochial institutes of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, are shelling out as much as $3,000 each on one night of romance and revelry.
