The crazy years … it all started when I moved to NY for the first time. I had no friends except for my roommate with whom I was sharing a 2,000 sq. ft. pre-war apartment on the Upper West Side.
So, once a month, I started hosting house parties inviting my newly-found friends. It started as a chill-out wine-only house mixer for a motley crew of Columbia students, investment bankers, artists, models, cab drivers, pro-athletes, and everything in between.
I guess, it is the eclectic human cocktail that drew so much attention to the gathering. I still can not believe that something so chilled eventually evolved into a full-blown Friday Night Debauchery New York Style that I was running on a monthly basis.
I still can’t believe that I managed to have a professional career on Wall St. during the day and run off-the-hook parties in Manhattan at night.
I vividly remember this particular event – close to 800 ppl showed up @ the Antigravity Event Space in Chelsea. It was a big deal… The amount of energy I put into the process of organizing was insane.
Everything from the venue leasing agreements, insurance, people, performers, liquor, music, lights, furniture, sound system, advertising, etc. needed to be done the old ‘barbaric way’ – via regular phones and private meetings because in the early 2000s there were no smartphones and only 30% of the US households had internet.
The event turned out to be a massive success. The place was at full capacity by 11pm. A line outside. Queues to the bathrooms. 3 bartenders can barely keep up with the orders… A boy finds his girl kissing another dude – Pow!!! A Power outage at 1am – the longest 15 min of my life… Surprisingly smooth Live Performance show @ 2am… 2:20 – the last DJ Set… 3:45am – the last call… 4am – lights are on – Party’s Over – everybody out !!!
4:30 am – Exhale… Now I can relax and have my first drink of the night while waiting for the cleaning crew to arrive. My kind of a Friday Night Social Gathering. Another night to remember.
Production:
$75 @ the door covers “open bar” for the entire night.
3 DJs taking turns
5 off-duty officers provided security
6 bus boys kept the venue clean to the best of their abilities
3 bartenders
2 cashers
3 bathroom attendants
4 performers for a live 20 min show
What can I say, when liquor is free, even the non-drinkers have fun.
— MORE COMING SOON —