New York is home to a great deal of activities and events on any given night, spread throughout the city. No matter what your tastes or interests, there's always something to do. But what makes the search for the right activity so difficult is that they're often tucked away at locations that appeal to a particular artsy audience or socioeconomic clientele. Some bars, for instance, will orient their schedule of activities around the audience they wish to attract. Upon arriving at an event, you might then find it's either too crowded or that it appears everyone already knows one another from past get-togethers.
As a result, you might find yourself wondering if there's a place in the city that hosts a slate of fun events that draw all kinds of people in a comfortable and exciting environment. In other areas of the country, this might be called a community center, somewhere everyone can find what they're seeking from an afternoon or nighttime activity. More importantly, the center holds court for all sorts of people who wish to meet and get to know people outside of their immediate social group. The Big Apple has a place like that called 92Y Tribeca.
In recent months, I've attended several events at the 92Y Tribeca location that have each brought together vastly different groups of people. Young couples looking for a cheap date came out for a comedy night headlined by Michael Ian Black; techies and video mavens showed up for the monthly screening of Channel 101, an opportunity for amateur filmmakers to show off their stuff; and trivia junkies formed teams to compete in The Big Quiz thing, the best regular trivia competition that Manhattan has to offer. And these are just a few examples of the eclectic mix of activities from the 92Y Tribeca docket that regularly reel in diverse populations of people.
Common among all these teems of people is their age. While you might associate the 92nd St. Y with an older sect, the downtown location provides a necessary service and center for the young, vibrant community looking for post-work relaxation and stimulation. What makes it so special is the array of activities that other similar locations cannot match. Few places host a lecture one night, movie screening the next, followed by seminars, concerts, happy hours, sing-a-longs, and more. Just one peek at the 92Y Tribeca calendar and you'll find yourself impressed if not overwhelmed by the massive number of options for a given week.
I've been to trivia nights at bars outside of Little Italy, comedy nights in SoHo, and even a Channel 101 screening on the Lower East Side before, but none of those times compared to the fun I had at 92Y Tribeca's events. Because the center's main multi-purpose room serves so many different needs throughout the year, it is constantly being re-made to reflect the mood of the evening. The room looked and felt different each time I was there. Spectators, moviegoers and trivia buffs alike enter to find a place they feel supremely comfortable. And while the room on any night may have a similar look to that of other places in New York City, there's probably nowhere else where so many strangers can show up and immediately recognize that they belong.