Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit
What started as a Facebook invite among friends turned into a verifiable blowout at East Side bar Sutton Place last Saturday, with over 3,000 RSVPs. The draw? Pauly D, the blown out cast member of MTV's latest pop culture phenomenon Jersey Shore, who manned the DJ booth for 2 hours, inspiring scores of self proclaimed "guidos" to come out and fist pump their support.
To the Jagerbomb-drinking patrons at the party, the appeal of the popular reality show is obvious.
"I think that Jersey Shore is so popular because America is sick of feeling, like, fat and poor after watching reality TV, and they want to show that they can watch and feel better about themselves." said Emily, a Boston native, as she swayed to the music, drink in hand.
Megan Murphy, a resident of the Garden State herself, likes the show but does not think its uniformly accurate. "We don't really all like spandex," she explained.
The event was organized by Jersey native Kate Laufer, a public relations executive who moonlights as a promoter. The party quickly grew from that initial Facebook invite to a bar that could accommodate a party of 75. When that sold that out, the party moved to the tri-level space on 53rd Street. Even with the extra room, the line snaked around the block for most of the night.
As the Pauly D's set wore on, it became evident that the event was oversold. Patrons pushed forward, trying to get closer to the reality TV star. Women climbed up onto the DJ station to take pictures of the befuddled looking Pauly D, who arrived after playing a set at the P. Diddy's son's sweet sixteen party. There was little room for fist pumping as drinks were spilled and elbows were employed to move dancers out of the way.
The music was less techno heavy and more focused on top 40 and other hits from the past few years. Jersey Shore fan Adrienne Klein enjoyed it, "I appreciate the dance music of, like, 2004, 2005."
The crowd also seemed to appreciate it, though they started to thin out about halfway through the set. As the night wore on, folks congregated at the rooftop bar for easy access to drinks and some fresh air. The mood was electric, much like the rooftop hot tub parties on episodes of the show.
A woman who would only give her name as Snooki summed up the appeal of the party: "I fucking love it, it's like fucking Halloween, I get to dress like a slut.