Please don’t hate me. I get paid to go to parties, photograph the dazzling guests attending them, and write about the proceedings: what they accomplished, wore, and ate.

Since The New York Sun began publication five years ago today, I have attended more than a thousand parties for almost every reason imaginable. And there were thousands more I was unable to get to.

It’s quite the way to pass one’s working hours, and anything but trivial — parties are the ultimate expression of the dynamic marketplace of a city.

Name a new store, hospital wing, or luxury condominium that hasn’t been toasted with a party; same with new corporate headquarters, museum buildings, and playgrounds. Nonprofits have raised money for after-school programs, cancer research, and counseling for victims of domestic violence. The money that has changed hands leading up to or growing out of these events is in the billions.

At the opening of the Hearst Tower this past fall, acrobats dangled in the atrium and Stevie Wonder performed. The architect of the building, Lord Foster, garnered the most kudos, because he had given New York a stunning building. It is one of the many additions to the New York skyline in the past few years helping to heal the wound left by the fall of the World Trade Center.

When the Time Warner Center had its opening party, Cirque du Soleil and Marc Anthony performed as 4,000 persons rang up sales at Williams & Sonoma and Whole Foods. New Yorkers would get used to having a mall, and they’d get used to seeing the city recover from September 11.

We did recover, and retailers followed: A Target store opened on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, one of the first concrete signs of dramatic change slated for the neighborhood. The opening party had its share of visitors from Manhattan, among them Chloe Sevigny and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Additions to New York’s grandest shopping corridors, Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, have included Asprey, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Pucci, and Abercrombie & Fitch. The parties in these stories, on opening night and beyond, have left many a passenger whizzing down the avenue marveling at the nightlife, or at least the red carpets, spotlights, and paparazzi. At one point, the cross street had once been empty and quiet at night.

The mayor likes going out in New York, and he’s thrown some good parties, particularly after his re-election. Meanwhile, Bloomberg LP’s new headquarters, One Beacon Court, has turned into a site for memorable events, including a book party for Floyd Abrams and the opening of the new Le Cirque.

New York is such a great town for a party. Politicians and nonprofits come from all over the country and the world to raise money here. At the Republican National Convention, Governor Pataki courted the Latino vote with a shindig at the Copacabana, and CNN took over and refurbished a diner so it would have a place to bring clients during the days of the convention.

The great institutions of New York have had many champagne toast moments. The New York Public Library opened a new Bronx Library Center and a restored map room. Lincoln Center has had too many parties to count in conjunction with its $450 million campaign for redevelopment.

The Museum of Natural History toasted a spruced up whale. Jazz at Lincoln Center moved into its new home with a trumpet fanfare. MoMA had cakes in the shapes of all its different homes when it opened its latest.

There are upsides to attending so many parties. I’ve seen some amazing opera, theater, orchestra, ballet, and jazz performances. I have a lifetime supply of scented candles and perfumes from goody bags. I have met so many interesting, civically engaged, and compassionate people. I am in awe of the fact that I live in a city that puts people in the mood to celebrate. The city has such energy. So do its well-dressed citizens.

There are also downsides: I gained the gala 10 — 10 pounds — and it was harder to take off than the freshman 15. I have nearly lost my ability to make social plans not involving a catering facility.

My beat has also allowed me to witness the launch of a new New York newspaper. For five years I’ve gone out with camera and pad in hand, identifying myself as a reporter from The New York Sun, over the din of party chatter. At the beginning, only a few people recognized the name of the paper. These days, eyes light up. It’s been a long while since someone replied to me, “I haven’t heard of that paper.”

I’ve learned never to get too upset about missing a party, because there will always be more. And with any luck, I’ll be there to write about them. New York is a party town, and it’s also a newspaper town.