Results tagged “virtuallowereastside”

It's been quite some time since we hopped the virtual F train to the virtual Lower East Side (that's VLES, for those in the know), but it seems one NY Times scribe has been making some frequent visits to the online world. In fact, he may even prefer it to its real life counterpart.

There were no imperious bouncers or foul odors to contend with, and no fluids of any kind expectorated on my shoes. Except for a slightly choppy video feed, it was by my standards a pretty successful evening on the town. Despite knowing that its real-life inspiration exists right outside my door, I have spent the last few months making such visits to the Virtual Lower East Side (vles.com), a three-dimensional, Internet-based social network fastidiously modeled on a small but influential swath of Manhattan real estate.

Aptly described as "a mash-up of Facebook and Grand Theft Auto, with a dash of the indie-rock Web site Pitchfork thrown in for good measure," one can attend a show at Bowery Ballroom (pictured), make pixelated friends, and "get into as much after-hours miscreancy as the Web site’s programmers will allow." Creepy!