Gray Matter
Member
Last night was fun. Thanks to the dude who bought me the beer, I forget your name, sorry.
I'll repay the favor next meet up.
I'll repay the favor next meet up.
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NYC Gaf Meet Up 12/17/16: The ABCs of NYC
- Thread starter Penguin
- Start date
- Status
I woke up with a tiny headache myself but otherwise, I'm fine. I dozed off on the train and damn near leaned into an older guy. For once, I didn't miss my stop after a night out drinking.
I'm still thinking about that pastrami pilsner that I had last night at Barcade since it was amazing. I think it would have been even more mind blowing with food. I also enjoyed the coconut dark beer at ABC Beer Co. I will definitely be back to that place for dates in the future since I really liked the social atmosphere. Although for future reference, Astor Place is much closer to it than walking all the way down from 14th and 1st.
Random fact: When I went to go order my second beer at said place, the manager asked what the meetup was about, I said NeoGAF and dude gave me a puzzled look. I didn't expect him to know what it was so his face was priceless.
Huge, HUGE thanks to Penguin for taking over organizing the reigns for this one. I would have been incredibly stressed out otherwise. I can appreciate the fact that folks get there way before the party assembles and bail out way before it. I had a bunch of NYCC 2016 swag on me to give away but I never gave it out. It looks like I need to play the table top games that I own at some point to encourage people to play them. Cards Against Humanity is a great drinking game.
Sorry to disappoint lurkers and folks who didn't go as we forgot to take pictures. I damn near was going to take one earlier in the night but it in went in one ear and out the other. At the next one for sure whether it's big or small, I'll see to resuming photographer duties for documentation purposes.
Personally I would love to go deeper into Brooklyn or go into Queens since I'm getting bored of Manhattan and want an excuse to go out to the outer boroughs (there's a TON of museums and public places that I haven't been to e.g. the Noguchi Museum and MoMA PS1). I've never been to the Gowanus/Redhook area but I'm pretty sure drinks are Manhattan pricey. Bayridge and Sheepshead Bay are out of the question.
For a smaller meetup, I think going to a Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum of Art would be a great one. For some reason, the idea of a huge poker night complete with chips sounds fun for something bigger but location, location, location.
Maybe it's because I know/met too many people that live there but I think Astoria is overrated. Aside from MoMi, the Astoria Sports Complex, the pastellitos place on Steinway street, and the Bohemian beer garden what else is there more to see? I heard of the many Greek/Brazilian bars but I think they're more along the Ditmars Ave area. I went to a bar right across the street from Studio Square that was solid back in April after volunteering at IndieCade East. Not so good: I had an Imperial IPA from said place that was way too hoppy for me. Then again, I was warned by the bartender that it was strong so shame on me.
A Korean BBQ place in Flushing would be a fun idea but we'll need an Asian GAF member or two to tag along for that on. That's also a bit of a trek for many peeps but if it's well coordinated/early in the day, it would be solid. There's a bunch of karaoke places in the vicinity. Then again, there's also an all you can eat hot pot place in Chinatiown near Grand street was decently priced and solid.
Really great bars like The Ditty, Sweet Afton and the Bonnie, just to name a few. Some great brunch spots (Queens Comfort) and my favorite BBQ spot in the city (The Strand Smokehouse). The Strand Smokehouse is fucking huge btw. You know how ABC beer co had 1 giant table? The Strand probably has 20. Live music sometimes too. Would make for a great meet up location but I don't see people making the trek.
Gray Matter
Member
Yea, I think next meet up I'll show up to would be during the summer.
Also... Lulubop, I expect you to return the favor next time lol.
Staten Island it is!
I swear to the sweet father above, I'll find a way for a mod to ban you for suggesting that!
Also I forget did we do Fat Cat or did I go with friends... that's a good bar sans the cover charge
There's also I wanna say Franklin Hall or Park...hmmm
I'll make a note of those places.The Strand Smokehouse sounds amazing! I would definitely make the trek for it.
Goodfellas Pizza anyone? Bloomberg ate there in his final year in office but didn't leave a tip.
We did go to Fat Cat during a past meetup and I've been there on a date. It's too loud for my tastes for a first date/in general. Here's a blast from the past on the events that transpired that night: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527700
I was thinking that for February, it would fun to hit up The Gaf again to bring it full circle since it would be 5 years since the big EviLore meetup.
Check it out. Really robust beer selection too.
Hmm is there like a link/archive of all the GAF meet-up threads?
Maybe see how many I flaked on
Why yes, the very NYC GAF thread that I keep plugging in every time I see a thread on visiting the city in OT or a news thread. I cataloged every major meet up that I was aware of in the OP including the very first one I went to way back when I was still a junior. Character limits mean that I couldn't catalog this year's meetups so I'm probably going to move them to one of the other reserved posts.
Got you bro.
Was there really no meet-ups in 2015?
There sure weren't. I was extremely disappointed that no one showed up to a meet up that I tried organizing in December that was in... St. Marks Barcade of all places. So after my final semester in undergrad, I decided to take the year off to do some "soul searching" and focus on my personal life. With the financial assistance of my mom I was able to pay my outstanding debt off thankfully but I also chipped in paychecks that I got from working at cons as well as my tax return check.
I still haven't found my "career" but doing freelance work, volunteering gigs, and internships as well as dating is bringing me one step closer. The only meet ups I went to that year was at PAX East and the Sony E3 Experience. A few GAF members there asked me why there were no more GAF meet ups and I told them the above reason. They said that they appreciated them either way.
Being the sole person to organize them, while they were fun to do, it felt burdensome so I cut it off. In January of this year I realized that I missed organizing them since it was a big part of me. In the entire time span of 2015 not a single person organized one but some GAF members would occasionally inquire about what happened to them in the previous NYC GAF thread. The rest is history because I was proved wrong and realize that there was a still demand of GAF meet ups even though they were gone.
Gray Matter
Member
About to leave NYC in about 35 minutes, thanks again to penguin for organizing the meetup and everyone who showed up, I had a great time.
P.S- found 2 tokens from barcade in one of the pockets in my coat. I'll save them for next time.
P.S- found 2 tokens from barcade in one of the pockets in my coat. I'll save them for next time.
Fair enough, I'll help in the new year when I can
On that note, instead of doing one in Jan like said last night think will aim for one like every 2 months or so.
It's much easier that way, and honestly it's just less work involved. Maybe with a bit more in the summer since it's nice and folks can explore the city.
Ha yeah, there's 2 other ones we can go to. I'm sure will end up in Williamsburg again since a lot of good bars in that area.
Chelsea is a bit more upscale so who knows
[Agent]ZeroNine
Member
Noted.
If we hangout soon, I know a dope spot for us.
And I have to practice my alpha 2 game to handle Makai
[Agent]ZeroNine;226873827 said:Noted.
If we hangout soon, I know a dope spot for us.
And I have to practice my alpha 2 game to handle Makai
You folks should also head on over to the community thread!
That sounds good. I want to set something straight for the record: I'm not fully stepping down from organizing GAF meet ups next year but with the start of this one going forward, I want to have a different person organize it. This would work much like the past where there was a different organizer every other month but spaced out so that people don't suffer from meet up fatigue (with all due respect to Toronto GAF who does one every month). I'll be down to organize one in the future but not every one.
This also allows me to focus on attending without the anxiety of having to update the thread for visibility. I'm basically stating that I'm going to be a bit less active on GAF next year and plan to spend less time on it since it's a big time sink for me. Of course, it's going to be hard for me to do when my brother checks it on a daily basis but I've been logging out of my account on my laptop whenever I need to focus on work which has been helping.
There's a solid bunch of peeps who organize smaller ones in the Community thread e.g. Makai so the door is wide open. If folks want to hang out on an off month (next month) or a random day of the week, they're more than welcome to show their interest in the community thread. I know most people aren't aware of the community thread but it exists. Once this thread dies down, I'll echo the chorus on continuing discussion there. Believe it or not, I still update the OP with restaurants and recommendations based on threads I've lurked in.
That being said, happy holidays! With Trump taking seat next month we're in for some ...interesting times. But at least the 2nd Avenue line is opening on New Year's Day so there's that to look forward to.
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