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Download a printable I-spy-drinking-game checklist
Start: Croxley Ales, 28 Ave B between 2nd and 3rd Sts
End: Gaslight Lounge, 400 W 14th St at Ninth Ave
Time: 2–4 hours (depending on how much beer you drink)
Distance: 2.16 miles
1 Get your booze-fueled meander rolling with a couple brewskies at Croxley Ales (28 Ave B between 2nd and 3rd Sts, 212-253-6140), then head north on Avenue B. Be sure to take in the creepy 65-foot Tower of Toys (which is re-created in the set of Rent), built by late East Village resident Eddie Boros in 1985. Pick up a couple of bevvies (and a brown bag to conceal—er, carry them in) at the deli on the corner at 6th Street and continue toward Tompkins Square Park. Drink if you spy: a gated garden, an establishment with a b in the name or a guy in a button-down shirt. Take a bonus drink if you can spot a store with rectangular jars of spices laid into the wall above the door.
2 Head from the southeast corner of Tompkins Square Park to St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. As you walk through this notorious former hippie hangout, drink if you spy: a yellow slide or a decrepit birdhouse.
3 Soak up some of that booze with an order of fries and peppercorn-Parmesan sauce at Pommes Frites (123 Second Ave between St. Marks Pl and E 7th St, 212-674-1234), and continue west through the heart of St. Marks Place. Try not to weep at the sight of the Chipotle sitting in the middle of what used to be the epicenter of antiestablishment culture. Drink if you spy: studs and leather, wanna-be punk-rockers/goths or the store that served as Ray’s Occult Books in Ghostbusters II.
4 On your way through studentville—from Astor Place and Third Avenue over to the northeast corner of Washington Square Park—stop off at the deli on the corner of Waverly Place and Broadway to pick up another refreshment, and continue west on Waverly. Drink if you spy: a Starbucks, laceless Chucks or a bar with a happy-hour deal (bonus drink if there’s a bachelorette party raging in it).
5 Washington Square Park may be undergoing cosmetic surgery, but its trademark clash of populations is still apparent. Drink if you spy: a flyer protesting the renovation of the park, or men with dirty fingernails playing chess next to a business-attired couple necking (bonus drink if either group is also selling).
6 Good news: You’re leaving NYU as you veer from the park to West 4th Street and Sixth Avenue. Bad news: You’re headed into the sensory overload of the West Village. Stop at the Four Faced Liar (165 W 4th St between Cornelia and Jones Sts, 212-366-0608) for a pint—and to release the beer from your screaming bladder. Drink if you spy: drunken Irish guys singing (bonus drink if they’re singing Johnny Cash songs), tourists downing brews at The Slaughtered Lamb (182 W 4th St at Jones St, 212-627-5262) or, as you reach Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue South, white people sitting next to white statues.
7 After you cross Seventh, note the sudden serenity of West 4th Street as it becomes posh West Village territory. Drink if you spy: an ivy-covered wall, a well-dressed European couple (bonus drink if they’re from Northern Italy) or a Vespa (double bonus if Mario Batali is on it).
8 No drunken walk would be complete without heading to the belly of the beast, the Meatpacking District. The area still packs in plenty of meat—heads, mostly—from Jersey and Long Island. Drink if you spy: a girl in heels tripping on the cobblestones, a gold necklace on a guy or an Abercrombie & Fitch/gay-porn billboard. Finally, take a rest and do a shot at Gaslight Lounge (400 W 14th St at Ninth Ave, 212-807-8444). At this point, your vision will be way too blurred to spy anything else.
DID YOU KNOW?
On October 9, 1966, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna movement, led the first outdoor chanting session outside of India in Tompkins Square Park. The tree that marked the spot is now called the Hare Krishna tree. If you find it, take a drink.
