"It’s not the city of old, where watering holes like the Subway Inn were as common as Starbucks is today and the bars were elbow-to-elbow with drinking folk. It hasn’t been that city for a good long while, of course, but something does seem off, the hoped-for return to normal after the pandemic never quite materializing."
I have so many perspectives on this- it's true. As a part-time (still) bartender, I notice that it seems Gen Z just isn't carrying that culture along. I mean, fuck, even I've become a teetotaler and I lived in bars for over a decade.
I'm not sure what to make of all of it. When I see signage like that, I know inside there's going to be a space of warmth and belonging. I wonder, though, if nowadays we're more curious about how we can cultivate that *inside*
What does that mean for New York City? I wrestle with it...
Such a thoughtful response and food for thought. I do worry that we are moving increasingly into virtual spaces and a home-centered social life, such as it is, and moving away from these nourishing (in more ways than one) third places. It will be interesting to see how things evolve. Speaking for myself, I rarely go to bars anymore, versus 15 years where it was easily a few nights a week. I'd chalk it up to being older, but my younger colleagues don't do much of that either, and don't hang out together the way my work crew did when I was in my 20s and 30s. Also, I barely touch booze anymore. I feel better not drinking, and the health concerns are real. More bars need to create options for those of us who are content with a nonalcoholic IPA. There seems to be a societal shift afoot in our collective relationship with alcohol.
I agree... I think it's the result of our evolving and elevating consciousness (which... you may know, I spend a lot of time thinking about.)
But that leaves a space of opportunity for how we can connect. Sure, there are "activities," and I think a lot of people who choose alcohol-free do those things.
But what about a space to simply "BE?" That's, IMO, needed.
Without interesting places like the Subway Inn to gather, New York City is becoming a place where residents may as well stay home. Which lessens the case for staying.
Exactly! One pays up the nose to live here, makes absurd compromises in lifestyle and lodging, deals with obnoxious heat and humidity almost half the year now, and faces the hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst adventure that is riding the subway BECAUSE it is such an interesting place with storefronts like the Subway Inn. Take the Subway Inns of New York away and what are you left with? A place I no longer find worth the trouble.
Whoa, man. That's sad.
"It’s not the city of old, where watering holes like the Subway Inn were as common as Starbucks is today and the bars were elbow-to-elbow with drinking folk. It hasn’t been that city for a good long while, of course, but something does seem off, the hoped-for return to normal after the pandemic never quite materializing."
I have so many perspectives on this- it's true. As a part-time (still) bartender, I notice that it seems Gen Z just isn't carrying that culture along. I mean, fuck, even I've become a teetotaler and I lived in bars for over a decade.
I'm not sure what to make of all of it. When I see signage like that, I know inside there's going to be a space of warmth and belonging. I wonder, though, if nowadays we're more curious about how we can cultivate that *inside*
What does that mean for New York City? I wrestle with it...
Such a thoughtful response and food for thought. I do worry that we are moving increasingly into virtual spaces and a home-centered social life, such as it is, and moving away from these nourishing (in more ways than one) third places. It will be interesting to see how things evolve. Speaking for myself, I rarely go to bars anymore, versus 15 years where it was easily a few nights a week. I'd chalk it up to being older, but my younger colleagues don't do much of that either, and don't hang out together the way my work crew did when I was in my 20s and 30s. Also, I barely touch booze anymore. I feel better not drinking, and the health concerns are real. More bars need to create options for those of us who are content with a nonalcoholic IPA. There seems to be a societal shift afoot in our collective relationship with alcohol.
I agree... I think it's the result of our evolving and elevating consciousness (which... you may know, I spend a lot of time thinking about.)
But that leaves a space of opportunity for how we can connect. Sure, there are "activities," and I think a lot of people who choose alcohol-free do those things.
But what about a space to simply "BE?" That's, IMO, needed.
I wonder how it'll look in 10 years...
Yes! This feels like an exciting if unsettling time — a big change is afoot.
Favorite dive in the late 1970s.
Without interesting places like the Subway Inn to gather, New York City is becoming a place where residents may as well stay home. Which lessens the case for staying.
Exactly! One pays up the nose to live here, makes absurd compromises in lifestyle and lodging, deals with obnoxious heat and humidity almost half the year now, and faces the hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst adventure that is riding the subway BECAUSE it is such an interesting place with storefronts like the Subway Inn. Take the Subway Inns of New York away and what are you left with? A place I no longer find worth the trouble.