Dining: What do we love about New Year’s Eve? It’s a celebration of everything good about the year with enough booze to blot out what we want to forget. Add a great meal — especially one that someone else prepared — and you’re ushering in the next 12 months in effortless style. Comment.

Where to GO: Editors’ Picks

Dogs’ day

Saturday, December 29: Didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas? If you had your eyes peeled for a gift box with air holes punched into it but were left with your tail between your legs, head over to 4 and a Tail in Park Slope for the arrival of the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network’s mobile pet adoption unit.

Noon at 4 and a Tail (240 Seventh Ave. at Fifth Street in Park Slope). Free. For information, call (718) 798-6865 or visit www.brooklynanimal fosternetwork.org.

New Year’s Eve excess

Monday, December 31: Every bar in the borough — and most of the people — will be doing something special to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Turn to page 7 to check out GO Brooklyn’s guide to the biggest and most exciting parties of the night, as well as more subdued, but equally satisfying, dining options.

Grin & bear it

Tuesday, January 1: All winter long most people are dreaming of a dip into a hot tub, not a swim in the freezing cold ocean. The Coney Island Polar Bears are not most people. These sub-zero heroes are dipping into the frigid Atlantic to raise money for Camp Sunshine, a kids charity.

1 pm at the Coney Island Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Donations encouraged. For information, call (718) 356-7741 or visit www.polarbearclub.org.

Ticket time

Wednesday, January 2: Trekkies and civilians alike will be beaming themselves up to the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s box office today to purchase tickets for the upcoming production of “Macbeth” starring Patrick Stewart (aka Capt. Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”).

Noon to 6 pm at the Brooklyn Academy of Music box office (30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place in Fort Greene). Tickets are $30-90 and can be purchased by calling (718) 636-4100 or visiting www.bam.org.

‘Power’ rock

Friday, January 4: Rock band Bridges and Powerlines, one of the best local acts we’ve seen in quite a while, will bring its high-energy show to Union Hall tonight. (They’ll be joined by openers The Great Lakes and Rachel Lipson.) Make it your New Year’s resolution to get to more great rock shows, and make this the first.

8 pm at Union Hall (702 Union St. at Fifth Avenue in Park Slope). $8. For information, call (718) 638-4400 or visit www.unionhallny.com.

View the full nightlife and events calendars.

Celebrate 2008

By Sarah McCormick

Nightlife: New Year’s Eve can go either way. Sometimes a great party will keep you out until dawn, then staggering into a diner for breakfast having already broken most of your resolutions. In other years, a quiet night with friends can do the trick. We’ve gathered a list of all of the above, so you can pick a celebration that’s just right for you. Comments (1).

Flapjacks Rx

By Adam Rathe

Dining: More often than not after a night of drinking, eating is the last thing on your mind. In fact, putting anything besides aspirin into your system often feels like it could have catastrophic results. Getting yourself fed, though, is an important part of the healing process. So where to go for New Year’s Day brunch? Comment.

With the works

By Daniel Goldberg

Event: No matter who you’re kissing when the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve, if you’re in Brooklyn, there will be fireworks. Look here to find out where! Comment.

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