Seeking drop-in meetup space in NYC
December 6, 2015 1:06 PM Subscribe
In short: looking for a place where some friends and I can hang out for a few hours midday on a February Saturday in New York City.
I have a long layover in New York on my birthday, and I thought it might be a cool chance to see my friends (a handful of close ones, a couple dozen of less close folks I'm fond of). I want to say,"I'll be HERE from 11-2, stop by at any point to say hi!"** Any suggestions for a great place to do this?
Some factors:
- Hopefully place would be cool with me camping out for hours, with anywhere between 0 to maybe 8 people with me at any point, all chatting
- Knowing my friends, this must happen in Manhattan, or maaaybe Brooklyn
- Something that's a destination in and of itself would be ideal - people are more likely to come to a new hip doughnut place than, say, a Panera
- Somewhere I could feasibly entertain myself for 3 hours would rock. I know bars are the canonical birthday choice, but a few hours in one before hopping on another long flight sounds less than ideal.
A few ideas already in the mix: cafes, the Met or other museum, the Strand or other bookstore.
**I am totally prepared and zen about the possibility of no one save for a few close friends showing up, because YOLO, will make a good story later, and all that. If it sounds like there truly are no suitable spaces for what I have in mind, I do have brunch with my best friends as a backup.
Some factors:
- Hopefully place would be cool with me camping out for hours, with anywhere between 0 to maybe 8 people with me at any point, all chatting
- Knowing my friends, this must happen in Manhattan, or maaaybe Brooklyn
- Something that's a destination in and of itself would be ideal - people are more likely to come to a new hip doughnut place than, say, a Panera
- Somewhere I could feasibly entertain myself for 3 hours would rock. I know bars are the canonical birthday choice, but a few hours in one before hopping on another long flight sounds less than ideal.
A few ideas already in the mix: cafes, the Met or other museum, the Strand or other bookstore.
**I am totally prepared and zen about the possibility of no one save for a few close friends showing up, because YOLO, will make a good story later, and all that. If it sounds like there truly are no suitable spaces for what I have in mind, I do have brunch with my best friends as a backup.
What about a pool hall?
posted by greta simone at 1:55 PM on December 6, 2015
posted by greta simone at 1:55 PM on December 6, 2015
I know this isn't your question, but are you sure you want to trek all the way from the airport (whichever one, they are all a huge pain to get to) to Manhattan and then back to the airport to make a flight? That sounds horrendous to me.
posted by cakelite at 2:02 PM on December 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by cakelite at 2:02 PM on December 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
Answering as asked: Washington Square Whole Foods, get seats by the windows, eat huge meal and coffee.
That said...
The only place I personally would attempt this, if you happen to be flying into LGA, is somewhere in Astoria near the Astoria Blvd N/Q. You take the M60 to the spot, your friends take the N/Q from the East Side.
It may also be possible to do this with one of the Queens buses from LGA, but I do not personally know these buses.
I would not try this from JFK, or go into Manhattan, unless it truly is a 9-hour layover or something like that.
posted by 8603 at 2:25 PM on December 6, 2015
That said...
The only place I personally would attempt this, if you happen to be flying into LGA, is somewhere in Astoria near the Astoria Blvd N/Q. You take the M60 to the spot, your friends take the N/Q from the East Side.
It may also be possible to do this with one of the Queens buses from LGA, but I do not personally know these buses.
I would not try this from JFK, or go into Manhattan, unless it truly is a 9-hour layover or something like that.
posted by 8603 at 2:25 PM on December 6, 2015
Fat Cat in the West Villiage is probably a good choice place, grab a pool table or some board games and hang out there for a while, they have music and drinks. Generally it has lots of space for various group sizes.
posted by theDrizzle at 5:45 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by theDrizzle at 5:45 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks so much for the answers thus far! cakelite and 8603, my layover is literally 12.5 hours long, and I picked it specifically because doing something like this was my idea of a good time. I am aware of how far the airports are from the city.
posted by estlin at 6:13 PM on December 6, 2015
posted by estlin at 6:13 PM on December 6, 2015
Depending on your friends' tastes and budgets, how about a museum with a café? The Met, the American Museum of Natural History, MoMA, and the Guggenheim are obvious choices, but there might be something smaller or quirkier that would appeal to the specific friends you want to meet. Obviously that would work best if you knew who was coming, and approximately when, so you could know when to be at the café, but if you all have phones and can text, that wouldn't be too hard to coordinate ("Meet me at the Temple of Dendur in 5….").
posted by brianogilvie at 6:35 PM on December 6, 2015
posted by brianogilvie at 6:35 PM on December 6, 2015
Eh, I am not understanding why you are ruling out bars as they are the kneejerk best option to me upon reading this question. Many bars are pretty empty-ish or low key between 11-2 as long as they are not a Trendy Saturday Brunch Destination. You are not required to drink alcohol for all three or four hours in the bar if drinking before your flight is not ideal. There will be space for your group of friends to meet up with you and the bar will welcome you chilling there during the day as opposed to "camping" at a coffee shop/cafe trying to turn over tables, or The Strand (this is strange to me, I don't think I've heard of people hanging out at a store for hours at a time to meet with people/socialize).
I love the idea of Fat Cat, also Barcade which also has video games and board games if you'd like other things to do besides sitting and sipping on drinks. Ace Bar has games and skee ball.
posted by windbox at 7:55 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
I love the idea of Fat Cat, also Barcade which also has video games and board games if you'd like other things to do besides sitting and sipping on drinks. Ace Bar has games and skee ball.
posted by windbox at 7:55 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
As a person who doesn't live in New York but does have friends of various degrees there, I have done this at:
Bar Veloce in Chelsea
The downstairs meeting room at Think Coffee in Union Square
BRGR by Penn Station
None of these, to be honest, really pass the "would be fun to hang out there for 3 hours waiting for people" test. But they do at least pass the "chill enough that people can come and go" test.
posted by escabeche at 8:46 PM on December 6, 2015
Bar Veloce in Chelsea
The downstairs meeting room at Think Coffee in Union Square
BRGR by Penn Station
None of these, to be honest, really pass the "would be fun to hang out there for 3 hours waiting for people" test. But they do at least pass the "chill enough that people can come and go" test.
posted by escabeche at 8:46 PM on December 6, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:08 PM on December 6, 2015