NYC Dinner Thread
 

This has been done before and dare I try it again. The very first NYC Dinner Thread on Net54 lives in hobby infamy as one of the most dysfunctional threads we've ever had, but let's get started.

I am free the month of June, supposed to be away most of July, but those dates aren't set yet and I have some flexibility. We usually pick a restaurant someplace in Mid-town Manhattan. Please keep in mind there will always be one or two who can't make it on a particular date. We try to accommodate but sometimes we can't get everyone in.

So far it's Barry S, Michael S, and Jamie B. Anyone else? All are welcome to join us. Restaurant suggestions are encouraged. And I suggest a date towards the end of June, about a month from today.

Depending on the date (and an ok from the wife), I would make a trip north for this.

Thanks for taking the lead, Barry -- count me in!

I'm flexible on time and date.

Steve

we were looking at coming into the city to see "The Play That Goes Wrong" anyway, Would love to combine the two if wives are allowed!

Always up for a trip in if the date works. Any Blarney Stones still open? Kidding but open to most food options

Great to see some old faces and some new ones too.

At some point we have to focus on time and place, so why don't I suggest a window between June 20-30. If that doesn't work, we can make necessary changes.

Do people prefer a weeknight or a weekend? We'll probably be split on this but let's hear what works.

And to Scott's question: yes, wives are welcomed, my wife Judy has attended several, but keep in mind this is a group of serious baseball card collectors. Will the wives find it interesting fare? We can talk about other things too, of course.

Re: NYC Dinner Thread
 

Won't be able to attend, but was just in The City for my daughter's NYU Law School graduation last week. To say there was some culture shock for this small-town boy would be putting it mildly. Hope everyone enjoys the evening. Look forward to seeing everyone in Cleveland this summer.

I am currently in New Jersey helping take care of my mom will likely be here for the whole month of June I would love to come!!

Sorry you can't join us Ed. I'm an NYU graduate myself (M.A.)

Would love to meet you Pete. So let's for sure try to get this locked in for June. We'll give this thread a couple of days for names to be added, then focus on the particulars.

likewise barry.

I'd love to join, but end of June is crazy with work, moving out of our house, and some family medical stuff that's up in the air. But please keep my on the invite list and I will try my dammest to make it.

Hi Steve- all you have to do is follow this thread, and when we eventually pick a date, if somehow it works just give a shout that you're in. Even when we all get to the restaurant, we often have one or two extras showing up and that's fine. You're already invited, so it depends entirely on your ability to make it. Hope it works out.

I propose mid juin!

Thanks.

I was actually thinking of Saturday June 23. That's only a starting point and can easily be changed. How does that work for people? Remember, this is a work in progress so nothing is final.

Hi Barry, how much will the average dinner at the restaurant likely cost, and will there be any cheapskates? :D

As of this minute june 23 works for moi.

I hear you...and I wish I knew your first name. Some of our dinners get a little pricey and for some that's difficult. If you want to join us and have a budget, kick in what you can and we will be able to cover you. That said, I wouldn't mind an affordable place. I usually don't pick it, but hopefully it won't be super expensive.

Great. So as a starting point, how do people feel about June 23? I know Scott wanted to get theatre tickets, so if that day is available he can join us say at 6:00 and head to the play when he has to. So let's hear from everyone about the 23rd. And there are still people who may want to come who have yet to see this thread, so we're still early in the process.

should be doable for me.. FWIW I also prefer a reasonably priced meal, though a splurge is an option.

That's great Scott. If you get tickets we'll make every effort to get together that night. And I think a reasonably priced restaurant is a good way to go. Michael S. usually picks out the venue, so I'll work with him to find something affordable. Maybe we'll look into a good sports bar in midtown, not too far from the Theater district.

Wish it was first weekend in June as I will be in Wilmington for 5 days. Would love to put a face to names and meet some more hobby guys.

Just curious...if we have a budget, are we supposed to subtract 20% first or add it later? ;)

Love the City....I'll be there for a week in July. Can't wait. Best food in the country.

Keens Steakhouse or Pete Luger or Takashi...For meat.

Katz's...For deli

Barney Greengrass...For smoked fish/breakfast

Rubirosa...For pizza

Papaya Dog...For hot dogs

Wu Lieng Ye or Joe's Shanghai...For Chinese

Blind Tiger...For beer

Murray's...For Cheese

Sushi Nakazawa or Yasuda or Blue Ribbon Sushi...For Sushi

Russ & Daughters...For Bagels and Lox

I would love to participate. With so many restaurant choices in Manhattan, I am sure we can find something pretty reasonable.


Jeff

Hey Andrew- that's only a week away and may be too little time to put this together and get everyone on board.

That's a nice poem Rob. Don't think Peter Luger's will work- to get such a large reservation for a Saturday probably needs about four-six months lead time. But you mentioned so many others, most I don't know. I was thinking a good Chinese restaurant would be fun, but we'll see how others feel.

I got together recently at Foleys with some folks and it was real reasonable and, hell, full of sports memorabilia. And is on 34th street. Just an idea.

That sounds good to me Steve, and the location is great. Let's see how others feel about it. I love sports bar food.

Makes me wish I was still in Connecticut. That first dinner with Wonka, Jeff, and Mike was great!

Yeah I know:( I do hope to meet some more guys at National this year.

A weeknight would work better for me as I work in midtown. Weekend probably wouldn't work due to family commitments.

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The 23rd works for me!
Steve

(If people choose weeknight, I'd suggest the 14th or 21st since they be towards the end of the week.)

...
 

At the end of the day we will have to go with what works for the greatest number of people. When we had our original mammoth 500+ post dinner thread, we discovered there was no night that worked for everybody. If two guys couldn't make it and we changed the date for them, suddenly two other guys couldn't make the new date. So we will try to please as many people as we can, with apologies to those who can't come. That's the best we can do.

Vote for weeknight here
 

Monday and Wednesday being the best for me. Don't really care much where the restaurant is. Would look forward to meet many. Understand needs to work for most - so I put in my 2 cents and let the chips fall where they may - will do my best to make it.

It doesn't have to be a Saturday, and most of the ones we've had have been on a weeknight. Let's leave the date open for now.

Count me in! Thanks for organizing it. Love to put some faces to the names and talk baseball!

Michael

Hi Barry et al-

I’d prefer a weeknight, plus I suspect a lot of people are away on weekends during the summer.

There’s plenty of places in midtown (if that’s the preference). I’m on vacation until Tuesday...when I get back I’ll propose a few places. over the years we’ve done our fair share of great steakhouses, and Italian joints.

If people want something lower priced we could hit a place like Stout, near Penn...but there’s others. Let’s get plans together after this weekend.

Seems like a Saturday could be a tough go. Let's readdress this dinner after the holiday weekend, and see what works for the most people. I am flexible.

Everyone feel free to suggest either days or restaurants. Good holiday to all.

NYC Dinner
 

Hi Barry and guys

I may consider joining you for dinner. That is if you guys want me too :)

Depending on choice of restaurant and time of get-together.

For me it's a 2 1/2 hour trip from Pennsylvania, so the return trip is my concern.


TED Z
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Dinner
 

Is this open invite? I’m interested

i would agree Monday-Thursday would be easier for me.. tough these days to get away from the family for a guys night on friday and Saturday.

keep me posted...

Hi Ted,
Of course you are invited, and it would be great if you can come. I know getting back to PA is tough, but we can pick a restaurant not too far from Penn Station, and when it is time to catch a train you can simply excuse yourself and head out. Plenty of people do that. I'll call you this week and we can discuss.

And it looks like we will do a weekday. Let me throw out Thursday, June 21, and see how everyone feels about it.

Where in PA Ted? If the timing works out I could give you a ride, I'm in Carbon county so almost anywhere off of 78/22 would be easy for me.

If there’s room for a small timer, I’m interested...in Connecticut so I’m a short train ride away...


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Here's where we stand so far:

20 people have shown a strong interest or rated the dinner a possibility. From that list probably 15-17 will attend, and we may get more in the coming days. That's a pretty big group, probably too big for one table. Best to find a place with several smaller tables. If you put say 18 at a single long table, it will be impossible to speak to anybody except those sitting right next to or across from you. The guys at the other end might as well be in another time zone. So likely we would be sitting in smaller groups.

Since Saturdays don't really work, after the holiday I'm going to suggest Thursday June 21. As I said before it is virtually impossible to pick a day where everyone will be free. I know a few will say they can't make this date. But I think we have to pick something reasonable and go with it, with apologies for those who can't attend.

I like Steve N.'s suggestion of Foley's, the sports bar on 34th Street. Several attending will be coming in via Penn Station, and that will make it super easy for them. And every subway goes through 34th Street so the location couldn't be better. But it will be loud and crowded, so we will still listen to other suggestions as far as venue.

Any thoughts about this, please post. Trying my best to make this work for as many as possible.

I just googled Foley's and it's at 18 West 33rd Street, which is between 5th and 6th Avenue. Still easy to get to from Penn Station. The pictures show tons of sports memorabilia, so no downside there. But it's hard to tell the layout of the restaurant from the pictures.

Steve N.- do you think if there ends up being twenty of us there will be enough room for everyone? And how crowded is it? Anything you can tell us will help to make a decision.

Just a helpful suggestion. If you're going to have this get-together at a sports bar, check the date to make sure there are no 'huge' games taking place that night to avoid an even more crowded situation.

If we wanted to do more dinner type places rather than a bar, my wife, who works near Penn suggested the following places for larger groups (private room may be availablel... big question also is whether or not there is an event at MSG that night.

https://casanonna.com/new-york/
http://m.mobilewebsiteserver.com/sit....google.com%2F


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That's good advice but the Knicks and Rangers are dead and buried. What big sports night could take place over there in late June?

Concerts at the Garden, NBA finals on TV...actually finals will be done by then.

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I was mainly talking about what is on TV. Are the NBA/NHL playoffs over by your proposed date? Keep that in mind.

Good suggestions Carl and I'm open to pretty much anything. The only thing I am trying to do is make it as easy as possible for people to get to. Anyplace in Manhattan is just a subway ride for me, but for some who are coming a long distance I want it to be convenient. I am entirely open to any restaurant people think will work. In fact I'd rather let somebody else choose it.

Concerts, of course. That would be a problem. Last year we had a Net54 dinner around the corner from the Empire State Building. It was really nice and of course I've forgotten the name of it, but one of the crew will remember. It had a lot of smoking pipes hanging from the ceiling.

My wife reminded me it was Keen's Steakhouse. Super nice with great food, but pricey. It's on West 36th Street.

Barry, you’re doing good so far. As you remember it’s not easy organizing these, ha.

I should be good for Thursday June 21.

The way they usually go, we’ll end up with a dozen people max.

As we know, Keens is one of the best steakhouses in the city. Add to that Sparks, Old Homestead, Peter Lugers.

I’m game for whatever...our usual 6-630pm start time is good.

Of course, I will be in Florida on the 21st. I will continue to follow this thread to see if the date changes. Enjoy!


Jeff

summer solstice net54 new york nosh? sounds epic!

Love Barry hobby pioneer will be in Long Beach island for sisters birthday ,,I work in nyc ,,I read anything he has to say.Enjoy the dinner Barry ,,

Thanks for the kind words Octavio. Hopefully something in your schedule will change and you will join us.

Get Crandall to help. I am sure everything will get worked out in no time. Good luck with the Dinner, all.

I haven't revived this thread because I am at a bit of an impasse. A couple of regulars from our group emailed that June 21 won't work. So I am at square one without a date or a venue.

Anybody have any ideas? I'm putting out an SOS.

Maybe you could do a poll for a date? Only people attending can vote and you can make the votes public. IF someone votes and doesn't go we can put them in timeout or something.

I can plan this pretty quickly...like I've done many times prior.

I'll see what Barry wants to do.

I probably have the easiest schedule, with just about any June date available, and I eat all kinds of food. So if anybody else wants to suggest a time and a venue, don't be bashful. I can be there.

Don't start what you can't finish. :)
You should learn from previous disasters, seriously. Just pick the date and venue well in advance and whoever makes it, makes it. Nobody in the business world would plan a meeting this way.

Thanks Peter. But this is not a business world meeting. Just a couple of guys getting together for a an evening of dinner and drinks.

So I'll pick a new date. It's June 14. I like a Thursday for some reason so that's it. Who's in? Please post on this thread if you can make it June 14.

If I was Octavio’s sister (I’m not), I would gladly change my birthday to the 31st of June for the benefit of the New York City Dinner thread.:D

Sorry, I'm busy on the 31st.:(

I am 50-50 for June 14th. Will know closer to the date. I don't think my presence will make or break the event for you guys. :) Thanks, Barry!

Hope you can make it Carl.

14th works for me.

a NYC Dinner thread!
:D

Is that you? How are you Joe? Are you going to join us June 14? It's been a long time!

Look forward to seeing you. So far we are just two. I'm sure we'll get enough people to make a very nice evening of it.

yes Barry - it is me.
I saw the thread and had to post in it. :)

It has been a long time. I hope you are doing well.

I'm not sure I would be able to make it June 14.... it is a busy time at work - so I can't commit to it.

Maybe the next one.

I should be good for the 14th.

Hi Judd & Joe (Joe, hope you can come).

Calling Robert S, Scott L, Zach, etc...

Please list all who are in on this thread. Thanks Michael.

I really enjoyed Keen's Steakhouse and it is very close to Penn Station, so I am going to suggest it again. Will be happy to listen to other choices too, but we will have to decide in the next few days in case a reservation is needed.

I'm good with Keens. Will stop eating on Tuesday to prepare.

Although with two Jersey guys, we could hijack this to the Ironbound in Newark for Portuguese. Maybe a Jersey dinner thread in our future...