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After Jennifer Moore's death after partying at West 27th Street club, Guest House, last week, the local papers decide to head down to West 27th between 10th and 11th Avenues to report on the scene there. So there are mentions of drunken girls using tire to rest their heads as they lay on the street (NY Times) or girls super-excited that photographers are taking their pictures outside a club like paparazzi (NY Post). Here's a sampling:
From the NY Post:
- "These are the clubs we see on 'Sex and the City.' It's the whole image. It feels cool to be there, like you're really part of the city circle," Melissa said. "You learn where to go and who to talk to."
From the NY Times:
- “Girls from Brooklyn never walk alone,” said Danielle Russo, 25, explaining why she was not afraid.
- Ms. Shaikh, who lives on Long Island, said she felt safe here, in the light, among the crowds. “It’s not like we’re in the middle of nowhere,” she said.
From the Daily News:
- "I see these girls walking out and I want to help them," said the bouncer, who lives in New Jersey. "I wish I could have helped these girls. I would have driven them to Jersey myself."
One of the hypotheses as to how Moore and her 18 year old friend Talia Kenan got into Guest House when the age requirement is 21 is that they might have known the DJ that was playing there. And the Post article makes a good point about NJ Transit trains and buses stopping at 1AM - one partier from NJ said, "Having a train leave more regularly gives people more options." You wonder if there will be an after-hours detox club opening up next - a place where people could sober up before going home.
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bouncer said:
"I wish I could have helped these girls. I would have driven them to Jersey myself."
Somehow this sounds familiar statement..Bouncer promises to drive girl home himself..
bouncer said:
"I wish I could have helped these girls. I would have driven them to Jersey myself."
Somehow this sounds familiar statement from a bouncer.
I agree that the transportation network between New York and New Jersey outside of the rush hours is incredibly difficult to deal with. I've endured it myself, and it's made me scream. However, our public transportation networks are heavily subsidized by the government, and I can't really argue that we need to spend our tax dollars helping kids go to clubs to waste money and come home way past curfew. If they can afford to go to W.27th Street to party, then they can afford responsible transportation options such as black car services, cabs, or designated drivers. The Lincoln Tunnel, last time I checked, is open all night.
The responsible thing to do would be to not get drunk in a vulnerable situation like that. Terrible things can happen, more than just the indignity of sleeping and pissing in the street. And this is no accident - these kids are going on marathon drinking sessions in order to get to this level of inebriation.
The situation is not new, because my parents and their friends used to commute from Jersey to party in the city in their early 20's... back in 1970. They took cars, too (drunk driving was not vilified and punished like it is today). I think the difference is in the number of people drinking to the point of stupor - I think the younger generation lacks respect for the effects of drunkenness. They never stop at a few drinks; they enjoy getting completely bombed, dead drunk, and they shrug off the consequences. I think that's a relatively new trend, and one that's causing all sorts of danger for people both reckless and innocent...
I love the bouncer's statement because as we all know they love to "help".
Any comments from your blogger bouncer?
So, when is the NY State Liquor Authority going to start enforcing the law which prohibits more than three liquor-licensed premises within 500-feet of each other, unless the appliicant can demonstrate that "the public interest is served"?
By not enforcing this law, entire nighborhoods have become Mardi Gras 52 weeks a year, like the Lower East Side, Chelsea, the Meat Market, the Village, et. al. The City has become a Mecca for drunks and rowdy joints.
B&T types invade the city on weekends, turn it into their party space, vomit, pee and get drunk everywhere, and then go home to their quaint tree-lined streets, where their parents and neighbors would never tolerate this kind of behavior.
Enforce the 500-foot rule now.
If you want to drink (and thus aren't even thinking of driving, are you?), and can't afford the long taxi ride, get your stupid ass on the last train or stay the fuck local--what's so hard about that?
A very sad happening !
Back in my Rutgers grad student days, I was always grateful for the fact that on weekends, the last bus from the Port Authority to New Brunswick left at 2:00 AM. Even so, I occasionally crashed on a friend's floor, or found a more enjoyable way to spend the night. (It was the '60s....)
But I cannot express surprise about the latest story. These were two rich, spoiled brats from the 'burbs who knew nothing about City.
For openers, they parked an expensive sports car in a "No Standing" zone only 11 blocks from the tow pound. (Luxury cars are more likely to be towed because their owners can afford to redeem them; the owner of a heap is unlikely to claim it or pay the fine.)
They assumed that liquor laws did not apply to them, though they clearly had no understanding of how heavy drinking would affect them.
They were too proud to call their families for help, though they both had working cell phones (which parents always insist their kids carry so they can call for help).
To be sure, there's plenty of blame to go around, from the bouncers who let them in and the bartenders who served them to the parents who granted them far more freedom than they were prepared to deal with.
But a very late night on the town entails some risks (bad drugs, bad sex, hours sitting in the bus terminal are among the most common) that revelers should recognize and prepare for. Alas, these hazards are only discussed when rich, white, attractive young women are involved.
There's always Juvenex...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/nyregion/25ink.html
I'm Talia Kenan, the girl that was with Jen, I think if there were trains later we would not have driven in.
rest in peace.
Perhaps Harry should go back to grad school. The "luxury" car involved was a 2001 Toyota Corolla, and before he stands in judgment on a couple of young girls and their families, he might want to take a second look at his own possibly less than perfect life. It is so easy to judge, isn't it, rather than to simply grieve a tragedy.