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This lounge-y subterranean karaoke den, tucked into an otherwise sterile midtown block, comes from the people behind the futuristic Bamn! Automat in the East Village. Not surprisingly, Pulse caters to Times Square tourists and after-work office-dwellers as precisely as the junk-food vendor does to St. Marks’ cash-strapped and underage. Those in the market for public ridicule should stick to the bright-white main room, with a stage flanked by LCD screens (only occasionally screening a correctly matched music video), and with benches and low tables for an eager, rowdy audience. The stage-shy can take refuge down the hall: Pulse’s six private karaoke rooms (with Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2) are available for booking by the hour, with a four-person minimum but squeezing up to twenty; drinks and standard bar snacks are delivered to the suite. And though the beer selection is lacking, pricey cocktails and a lengthy bottle-service menu are sure to capitalize on any lingering stage fright. — Carey Jones