Attention Manhattan Area Reasonoids

Comments regular Jennifer has organized a meetup for those of you in the Metro area. So stop sniping at each other anonymously, and snipe at each other face to face over a beer. Folks are getting together at Pioneer Bar downtown on Saturday, September 17, around 6 p.m.

Comments

[Jennifer]

I don't know how many people will be reading this on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, but I've had some out-of-towners write to ask me where they could find affordable parking in the city. Being from Connecticut myself, I couldn't tell them. I remember one Manhattanite recommended parking in certain sections of the outer boroughs and taking the subway into Manhattan, but I don't remember the details.

So if any locals have advice for the out-of-towners, please post it here.

[Phil]

Damn -- I'm going to be in town from DC on Thursday and Friday, but planning on going back early Saturday evening. Crap.

[Jennifer]

Phil--

You can't cash in your ticket for a later departure and take a red-eye out of Manhattan?

[Native NYer]

Parking in the outer boroughs is cheap, especially if you park on the street. However, you're looking at a half hour train ride, at least, closer to an hour parking in the Bronx.

Parking in a lot in the area would be about 35 or 40 bucks for a few hours, maybe cheaper.

[Phil]

Jennifer -- We're actually taking the train, since it's easier for us than taking the shuttle from Dulles. (We = My wife and I.) Our return tickets are open-ended, so I'll see what she thinks about a late return.

[dhex]

once parking is out of the way we can work on the secret handshake.

[a]

Maybe everyone should whistle a couple of bars of "yankee doodle" when they walk in the bar?

[RJM]

Shouldn't we be able to recognize fellow libertarians by evilly twirling our handlebar mustaches?

[Native NYer]

Or by the fact they're packing guns and smoking joints?

[D Anghelone]

For peace of mind and relative convenience, y'all might do best with a parking lot in the financial district. 55 Water St. (entrance on South St.) or the one by the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (if it's still there) or such. Julian will leave a trail of crumbs to the right subway.

[Ruthless]

"Or by the fact they're packing guns and smoking joints?"

The set-up for this thread used Jennifer and "sniping" in the same paragraph. Whoa!

I hope nobody shows up who's a lily-livered sidewinder sissy about anarchy.
Wish I could be there.

[dhex]

"Maybe everyone should whistle a couple of bars of "yankee doodle" when they walk in the bar?"

i can't whistle. and i refuse to rely on the state to teach me!

[mediageek]

Perhaps Julian should have used the "Strangers in a Strange Land" headline for this entry instead of the one about the interns at the Heritage Foundation.

[Ruthless]

mediageek,
You gotta be kidding.
That's the beauty of Manhattan:
Everyone is a stranger, but nobody is "strange."

[Eddy]

Shouldn't the song be "Yank me doodle" after that well practiced governbent function?

[Onan the Ruthless]

"Yank me doodle"?
Whistle a few bars.

[Eric II]

It's been a while since I parked in the city, but I remember some relatively cheap garages off the West Side highway, west of Midtown. But you might have to walk a little to get to the nearest subway station.

[mediageek]

Ruthless, New Yorkers seem to all have peculiarities that make them all uniformly strange.

[ATR]

If any of you are coming from the PA/Jersey direction, parking in Jersey City is cheap on weekends, and there's a plethora of parking near the PATH subway line. Your best bet is the Journal Square or Newport/Pavonia PATH stop area. Take the PATH towards 33rd Street to Christopher Street.

[Douglas Fletcher]

So where are they going to post the pictures of this meeting of freaks (I mean that in a good way)?

[Jeff P.]

For any SF/Comic geeks who may be attending, I discovered that there is currently a H.R. Giger exhibit in NYC, as well as a overview of the Spectrum SF art books that I'm planning on hitting on this trip.

[Stretch]

How about that? I used to live three doors down at 200 Bowery when The Pioneer opened up.

Honestly, if you're at all comfortable driving into the city, there are plenty of garages right there, and it's easy going to the Hudson Tunnel on Canal. There's one on Kenmare a couple of blocks away that used to have fantastic rates. $17 overnight, which is a straight steal in NYC. I can't vouch for their current rates, though. Also, on street parking is generally pretty good around there.

[Jennifer]

I wasn't planning to post any photographs, and I hope nobody else does either.

[Jeff P.]

I will, however, be doing courtroom sketch-artist style drawings of the entire shindig...

[dhex]

but who's going to liveblog it?

[Jeff P.]

Anyone know if they have wireless?

[Jennifer]

This Saturday is also the day before my birthday, and my last night as an official member of the Youth Demographic. Which partly explains why I oppose the idea of photographs and live-blogging; why treat all of cyberspace to the sight of me suddenly breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably?

[Jeff P.]

Being 8 years older than her, you can imagine the incapacitating bellylaughs I suppress when she talks like that.

[Jennifer]

Eight years and seventeen days.

[Jon H]

There's a garage around Jane & 9th Ave, near 14th St, which is pretty cheap, especially if you arrive early. I've parked there all day on a work day, and it was only about $24. They might even be on the web, it's something like "Jane street parking".

If anyone's thinking of staying over, check to see if your employer is a member of Club Quarters. They have low weekend rates for member employees. (The 45th st. location starts at $86, the downtown location at $76.). The only caveat is that the rooms are quite small, though the Midtown location rooms are designed nicely so it works okay. On the plus side, the 45th st. location rooms have desks and chairs that are not an ergonomic abortion when using a laptop. Plus, free wi-fi.

[MP]

FYI - This is also a great opportunity for those who aren't from NYC to enjoy The Feast of San Gennaro. Don't miss your chance to dunk the insult comic!

[thoreau]

My odds of attendance keep going up and down. Obstacles come up, obstacles go away, new ones appear.

Wish I could say one way or the other.

As to Jennifer and aging, consider this: You are more or less the same age as my wife, from what I gather. You have a boyfriend several years older. She has a husband who is younger by a number of years that shall remain classified to spare her too much embarassment.

It could be worse.

[dhex]

though i was joking, i'm sure some asshole somewhere has liveblogged a drinking expedition.

[Don Fannuci]

San Gennaro no good. Stay away!

[Jennifer]

Thoreau-

Mr. Nice Guy sent me an e-mail expressing interest in attending. Maybe you two could work out some way to split the transportation costs.

[thoreau]

It's not about cost. I can afford a bus ticket if my wife needs to stay down here and use the car. (We only have one car.) And I have a friend to stay with in NYC.

The issue right now is some obligations that I might have down here. I'm still waiting to find out.

[Jennifer]

I'm wondering who IS going to show up, at this point. Oh, well, if Jeff and I turn out to be the only ones there, there's still plenty to do in the city. And we're going to some art galleries beforehand.

[Solitudinarian]

And we're going to some art galleries beforehand.

What, no gun shops?

[Jennifer]

Solitude--

Gun shops? We're meeting in Manhattan, New York, not Manhattan, Kansas.

[ATR]

I will definitely be showing up. Since I'm a lurker, I've missed the opportunity to snipe at you all online, so I'll have to settle for bludgeoning you all with sarcastic remarks in person.

Maybe I'll wear my Badnarik cap both for identification and embarrasment potential

[Lurker]

I'm coming too.

Of course, I'll just be hanging out near you guys and listening in on your conversations without introducing myself.

[David Rollins]

Count me as a Katrina casualty. I'm pretty fond of the Pioneer Bar, having lived several blocks away, and I've been looking forward to this for a month or so. However, a dear friend is being allowed back into NOLA to salvage business records; I'm not sure if he wants me to join him for emotional support, or because I'm packin'. I also need to check on the rest of my family hunkered down in Baton Rouge.

With regards to parking, there are always plenty of street spaces on the weekends. Start at the Pioneer (you might get lucky on Bowery), and work your way north and east. As a last resort you can always park underneath the Williamsburg bridge, though it's a bit sketchy. You'll get the last look at the "old manhattan", before they put a baby Gap on every corner (harumph).

You kids have fun, and be careful. Anyone wants to have an Raleigh/Durham meetup, let me know as I'm down here nearly full time nowadays.

Oh yeah, someone send me the pictures (if Jennifer allows any to be taken).

[smacky]

[tantrum]

I want to go! I want to go to NY, too!

[/tantrum]

I don't know if I am going to make it to the get-together. Right now my mental Magic 8 Ball says, "Outlook not so good".

And I was really looking forward to trying to spot out lurkers.

[The Mad Scientist]

If I could go I would be sure to wear an evil mustache, which I would twirl evily, just like this guy.

[The Mad Scientist]

If I could go I would be sure to wear an evil mustache, which I would twirl evily, just like this guy.

[The Mad Scientist]

If I could go I would be sure to wear an evil mustache, which I would twirl evily, just like this guy.

[The Mad Scientist]

If I could go I would be sure to wear an evil mustache, which I would twirl evily, just like this guy.

[Stevo Darkly]

If anybody is wavering about the NYC get-together, I urge you to go.

Even I -- who in Real Life, is a tad reserved and tends to dislike parties where I have to mingle with lots of strangers -- drove the five hours to the Chicago get-together and really enjoyed it. My only complaint is that the evening zipped by too fast. (Of course, the fact that I showed up an hour late didn't help.)

Heck, I'd go to the NYC meet too, if I hadn't just taken a trip, if we weren't getting into our busy season at work, and if it weren't too far to drive. (I have learned to hate flying these days.) I've never even been to NYC before.

Besides, somebody has to go and verify whether Jennifer is really a plush microbabe, or a stout and sweaty 50-year-old man in gray sweatpants, or something in-between. Or at least verify that Jeff P. and Jennifer aren't really the same person.

And take surreptitious photos. That's why phonecams were invented.

[thoreau]

It now looks like I'll be there with my wife!

[smacky]

Good for you, thoreau...at least one of us is off the fence. More room for me.

[Jennifer]

Oh, hooray, Thoreau! I am looking forward to meeting you.