New York City, which has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, is now a ghost town, locked down and empty. Finally, the city that never sleeps is no longer awake.
The Big Apple has approximately 27,000 bars and restaurants. But that won’t stop the cool kids of Downtown Manhattan, who never go farther north than 14th Street, from having a party.
The sports bar Boys Don’t Cry in Downtown Manhattan. (Boys Don’t Cry)
Millennial entrepreneurs Maximilian Caraballo, 32, and Jake Daddow, 31, own the sports bar Boys Don’t Cry, and put together a virtual happy hour for their quarantined neighborhood in New York.
Millennial entrepreneurs Maximilian Caraballo, 32, and Jake Daddow, 31, own the sports bar Boys Don’t Cry. (Sarah Jake for One37pm)
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It takes place Saturday at 6 p.m. on the video app Zoom “as a way to celebrate our two years and connect with our friends, loved ones and all those who have supported us along the journey,” Caraballo said.
He added: “Today, we’re celebrating our second anniversary at Boys Don’t Cry. The last two years have been such an amazing rollercoaster ride and none of it would not have been possible without the support of our ever-growing community of patrons.”
The sports bar Boys Don’t Cry is doing a virtual happy hour for the quarantined neighborhood in New York. (Boys Don’t Cry)
The bar, a new city hotspot, is located in one of the last neighborhoods in Manhattan yet to be gentrified into a corporate city of brands and suburban lifestyles: the Lower East Side. Across two blocks near the border of Chinatown, tourists and locals see a New York from a time gone by: Regina’s Grocery sells old-school Italian delicacies, the kids love to get their ink at Evil & Love Tattoo, and dudes get their hair cut at the international hip-hop barbershop Frank’s Chop Shop.
“We opened Boys Don’t Cry in March of 2018 with the intention of providing the Lower East Side with a neighborhood space to eat, drink and smile,” said Caraballo about his bar that nightly plays the sports games of the day.
The virtual happy hour takes place Saturday at 6 p.m. on the video app Zoom. (Boys Don’t Cry)
They call it an “elevated dive,” like a dive bar for young cool kids who aren’t trendy but create the trends: creatives, models, athletes, big city folks doing big global things.
Said Caraballo: “Our original plan was to celebrate our two year anniversary with all of our beloved regulars and fellow lower east siders in real life, but sometimes plans, and circumstances, change. We figured during this temporary hiatus from mezcal shots, late-night games of pool and modern symposium, we can still get drunk together and pretend we’re on Orchard Street.”
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New York remained the worst-hit U.S. city on Friday as the virus continued to pummel New York City, keeping it shut down for weeks.
Caraballo, encouraging patrons to join the digital party, added: “Let’s get drunk, responsibly!”
