Case Study
A survey of the suburban social scene.
Its sterile, formerNew York City Mayor Ed Koch once saidof the suburbs outside New York City.
Is there anything todo?
Friends gather in each others yards or lawns, weeknights and weekends, with drinks and cocktails.
In the summer she occasionally likes to walk her neighborhood sipping rose or prosecco with freshly-grown mint and blackberries.
Shed choose that over any wild night in the city.
Im a singer, and it hurts my voice in a bar.
I get tie-tie and want to go to bed in five minutes.
One thing you have to think about in this peripatetic drinking scene is refills.
Another thing is bladders.
When, during the pandemic, people were skittish about offering up their homes and bathrooms, Mr.
Organ Bag made quick runs home.
Find Your Big Grill Energy
Second only to the alcohol obsession is the fetishized outdoor food scene.
The most coveted grill is The Big Green Egg.
Its a kamado grill, ceramic grill, and charcoal smoker in one.
If you go that route, youre going to want a Blackstone.
People mow and plant flowers and a lot ofguys get super into yard work.
Theres something about how magical it is, to be able to grow food.
Especially if youre from Manhattan.
The two summers of the pandemic were the best of his life.
They cover the Stones, the Dead, the Foo Fighters, and Bob Seger.
On Facebook they dedicated their rendition of Honky Tonk Woman to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
They invite friends to watch, and everyone brings their own beverages.
Were having this aspirational moment of playing out more, he said.
They had a significant set.
Adult sports are having a moment, especially those that can be done in groups.
Pickleball is big, as is mountain biking, of a sort.
Theyre old and young and fat and skinny but all wearing ridiculous Lycra outfits.
Jones says she has a couple friends whove gotten into roller-skating and rollerblading.
They couldnt go to gyms.
This summer, David M. played a lot of Cornhole with his partner and five other couples.
The summer before he won a Pro Kadima tournament and got aBreaking BadT-shirt as his prize.
He thinks there may have been a drive-by parade.
Afterward, the parents would sing and play instruments on the patio, surrounded by Tiki torches.
I take long runs through different neighborhoods.
There are the political signs, like Science is real.
The Newcomers have always had a big presence.
The Newcomers is so popular that it dropped its maximum-five-years membership limit, Hyne says.
If you pay your dues, you’re able to be a newcomer forever.
Once in a while, Jones and her friends go really crazy.
People got high on the train tracks behind the house, she says.
That was really fun, to see all these people with high-powered jobs really down.
Thank God Ive found people who can let go a little bit and are not so uptight.
This weekend theyre having another bash, for her husbands 40th.
No kids allowed because we all deserve a night without kids after this pandemic, Jones says.
We borrowed heaters and a Solo stove.
Lung health will not be top of mind.
