Hyggehiking NYC — Cozy Chinatown Crawl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hygge means "a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being." "Hyggehiking" is my own special blend, where we engage in that conviviality while trekking through green spaces throughout our city. I host Hygge gatherings so we can come together to make new friends, discuss fun projects we're eager to work on, dive into deep, thoughtful discussions, and meet people who can help make NYC feel like a smaller, closer-knit community. We bring our friends, family, coworkers, anyone we think would enjoy spending the day alongside a variety of curious souls. On Saturday February 24th, in the spirit of the Chinese lunar new year festivities, we're taking a cozy crawl through Chinatown and Lower East Side in Manhattan. It's still cold outside, and after the last few months of holiday travel, it'll be nice to focus a Hygge gathering upon warmth, conversation, tea, and yummy goodness. Our haunts will include food halls, tea lounges, community gardens, and an optional underground library bar. Here's my Google Maps list of the specific places we'll traverse: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DkZGG9L5fxUxpB1D6 We may not make it to every location on the list, but I encourage you to dig deeper into any of them and catch back up with the group whenever you please. FYI this is a 12-hour stroll, and you are free to join us at *any* point in the day 🙌 All RSVP'd "yes" and "maybe" attendees will receive a link at 10am to my realtime location for the entire day, along with my phone number, so you can see exactly where we are on google maps and call me directly if you need help 🤗 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 🗺️ ITINERARY 🗺️ 10am-11am — Starting Point: Book Club, Kolkata Chai Co East Village ✨ Grab coffee, or chai next door, grab a book, and enjoy some quiet reading until our starting group assembles. 11am-12:30pm — Tompkins Square Park, First Street Green Cultural Park, Public Hotel ✨ We'll wander through an iconic park for live music, then an art park, then dip into the Lower East Side's not-so-secret casual hangout/coworking location on the 2nd floor of Public Hotel. 12:30pm-2pm — Shu Jiao Fu Zhou, Essex Market ✨ Dumplings! Fried or boiled, delicious either way. Then, a whole mess of food options at Essex Market, including great coffee and hangout spots in the lower level. This is my top 3 favorite spots for meeting friends in Manhattan. 2pm-3pm — Artbean Coffee Roasters, Columbus Park, Thomas Paine Park, City Hall Park ✨ After lunch, we'll check out the pandan lattes at Artbean and weave through a few of the iconic parks in Chinatown and alongside the NY County Supreme Court and City Hall. 3pm-7pm — [Option 1] The Chai Spot ✨ This is the real deal, my favorite spot in all of NYC. It's as cozy and conversation-oriented as it gets, so we'll be planting here to really dig deep in discussion. I'll have plenty of questions at the ready that we can explore and savor. Just a heads up that this place can usually accommodate 5-10 new people at a time, yet we have ~90 ppl RVSP'd yes for today 😳. If our group size by 3pm is over 20, I'll be rerouting us to a much larger food court and waterfront. 3pm-7pm — [Option 2] Hudson Eats Food Court, Conrad Hotel Lobby. Way more space here for us to sprawl out and dive into conversation. We'll also be able to watch the sunset from here if it's not cloudy! 7pm-9pm — [Option 1] Caveat NYC ✨ For anyone who is itching for an improv musical, my favorite nightlife venue in NYC, Caveat, is hosting "Your Love, Our Musical" from 7-9pm (Doors at 6:30). This is a ticketed event, which frequently sells out, so I'm not going to walk us over there, but anyone interested is welcome to simply grab tickets ahead of time (https://caveat.nyc/events/your-love-our-musical-2-24-2024) and head over whenever they please. The rest of us will continue chatting at the Chai Spot until we're hungry for dinner. 7pm-9pm — [Option 2] Black Cat LES ✨There's a $5-to-perform open mic comedy show happening nearby at a cozy cafe/lounge. Comedy there ranges from cringe to good, but maybe any aspiring comedians in our crew can turn the tide? Grab a performance slot here: https://thecomedybureau.com/show/comedians-on-the-loose-black-cat-les-in-nyc-54-2-2/2024-02-24/ 7pm-9pm — [Option 3] Mott Street Eatery ✨ Rounding out our Chinatown dumpling crawl will be a stint in the Mott Street Eatery, with 8+ different vendors, fun drinks (teas, boba, etc.), and ample seating. 9pm-11:59pm— Williamsburg Bridge, Stammtisch A friend of mine is having a low key chairs-round-the-fire-pit backyard hangout in Williamsburg so if we're not an obscene group size, I'll walk us over there and we can enjoy the graffiti of the wburg bridge on the way. Williamsburg itself is its own vibe on Saturday nights so that should be fun unto itself. Anyone who wants to check out movies playing at Metrograph Theater on the way can duck out and enjoy before we enter the bridge (https://metrograph.com/nyc/) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 🎒WHAT TO BRING🎒 • comfy shoes • warm jacket • friends 🥰 • cash ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 👋🏼ABOUT YOUR HOST👋🏼 I'm Steve Dean, an NYC-based community builder, dating industry consultant, relationship coach, entrepreneur, and diehard superconnector. Creating deep, authentic connections across communities is what I do. It’s what I live for. Connect with me anytime through my website, Dateworking (http://dateworking.com), or on Instagram @stevenmdean. I've also started blogging regularly on substack as part of dating & relationship library I'm building up: https://stevedean.substack.com. If particularly curious, venture to https://stevedean.blog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 💸TIP YOUR HOST💸 Help me keep running these! Hosting each one is a 16-20 hour commitment. Plz chip in $0-$100 based on how blessed you are by the gods of capitalism Venmo: @stevenmdean PayPal: @stevedean CashApp $stevenmdean