Whether visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building, kicking autumn leaves on nature paths in upper Manhattans’ Fort Tryon or Inwood Park, eating Dim Sum in Chinatown, meditating at the Twin Tower reflecting pools, or singing out-of-tune Beatles songs at Central Parks “Imagine” memorial, the “212’s” greatest adventures become exponentially more enjoyable when done on the right day, at the right time… smoking the right weed!
Shit, sit me underneath the Brooklyn Bridge on a warm Tuesday summer evening with a fatty, I’m good for three hours! But check this out… At the westernmost end of the 7 train line, on any Thursday evening in July, a special treat awaits… Vinyl Nights.
A visit to the Hells Kitchen Alliance-sponsored “Vinyl Nights” disco party smack in the middle of Hudson Yards, in Bella Abzug Park, followed by a rare solitary stoner space hike down the Highline, is no exception to the “right day, right time, right weed” rule!
Shhh… don’t tell ANYONE that there is this much free Freak Brothers frolic and fun to be found in midtown!
Vinyl Nights is time travel: it’s ‘Lost in Space meets Star Trek’ level transposition to a joyous musical era known as disco, in a crime-ridden 70’s gritty ‘Saturday Night Fever meets Shaft’ NYC reality. At 7 p.m., as the blazing summer sun reflects off the Hudson River and the glass and metal exoskeletons of overpriced internationally acclaimed architectural empty behemoths, an unexpected badass disco party is starting to buzz. This is the real deal!
By 7:30 p.m., every gay, straight, black, white, Latin, Irish, and mixed breed city boomer disco prince and bad girl princess from Hell’s Kitchen to Harlem, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens have shuffled off the 7 train, into dreamy Donna Summer ecstasy… glorious Gloria Gaynor heaven, cosmic Kool and the Gang nirvana, biblical Bee Gee Adventureland.
There’s bad boys selling homemade $5 fruity-looking mystery beverages and cold beers from coolers. There’s bling blinding the eyes (yes, coke spoon necklaces!), and Yankee baseball caps pulled down low. Many folks are dressed to kill… and dance. A crew of aging midtown ballerinas and Ballroom drag queens mingle with ‘break’ and ‘robot’ masters, and they share their “moves,” smiles, drinks and pre-rolls! Pillows of sweet bud fill the air, and deals are going down! Just mind yer bizniz and boogie!
Huge P.A. speakers pound out finely curated mixes from real-deal NYC disco DJs and MCs from “back in the day,” right up to today. Shit, last summer, Jellybean Benitez was guest spinning–Google him, I dare you!
It’s the most real, back in the day, NYC street party I can conjure up in my brain, straight outta Saturday Night Fever, smack dab in the middle of the most misguided piece of urban planning of the new millennium (don’t even get me started with the Death Sculpture honeycomb monster commission that had to close its doors after numerous jumpers).
I’m not sure how The Hell’s Kitchen Alliance can partner with Vinyl Nights and Hudson Yards to pull this off every summer. Private security keeps a fairly laissez-faire approach to the frisky underbelly of this disco lair… trust me, there’s shit going down! NYPD steers clear as well.
Vinyl Nights… It’s a little bit of joyous stoner boogie-down anarchy in an otherwise buttoned-up and tightly wound elite playground. And I’m totally here for it, pipe in hand!
Next time, if you can keep a secret, I’ll tell you about the amazing walk home at The High Line’s closing bell! I need 500 more words for that! Keep on blazing!
