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Let's call it like it is: There seems to be a lack of cool spaces for Black people in New York, especially in convenient neighborhoods, and it makes me scratch my head. Don't get me wrong: I love a Fanelli's moment, a Time Again moment, a Honoree Club moment, or a Rocka Rolla moment. After all, New York is supposed to be a city that prides itself on the people being integrated, despite our differing identities. You can have a fun experience anywhere in New York. All the other cities must bow down to us. However, to help get New York's groove back, I do believe there needs to be chic spots were men and women of color feel singularly welcomed at. Spots that aren't on TikTok, or a part of a scene. I lament this at times.
Now, here's the good news: I recently found one that has become one of my most visited establishments. Please Tell Me in Williamsburg, just off the Graham Avenue L stop, is a fun and elegant late night spot with good drinks and great music. It feels like a place where Black folks -- and all folks -- can congregate, hear great hip-hop music, from the classics to current, and have a nice Pilsner, Lager, or a cocktail. (The cocktails aren't bougie and pretentious either. It's pretty chill). Even the food is solid: I highly recommend the chicken sandwich.
I can be picky about bars. They mean a ton to me. A good bar is where you can find comfort, comfort that life tries to strip you from. A good bar is like church, it enlarges the brain, elevating it to a relationship with someone other than himself. A good bar is a wife of 20 years. A good bar is when you meet someone that inspires you to write a short story. There's nothing like a cold one at a place where the bartender knows you --- doesn't know everything about you --- but knows you enough to want to talk to you about the news happening in the ether.
Please Tell Me has earned my trust. It's a small space, for certain, and it can get a little stuffy in there at 1AM in the morning, but the high-spirits override any of those worries. Another cool thing: I met my girlfriend -- Mrs. Commas to all of you --- there. I knew I wanted to take her on a date when I saw her at Please Tell Me. I went bar hopping last weekend with her and our homies and we had a grand 'ol time. We weren't there for long, we got two drinks, danced to four songs and then left, but it's the kind of spot that lifts your sprits when you go. There were Black women dancing near the DJ, black men cheering them on, white and Latino men also connecting with us, and having fun. It is what I want New York to be like, what New Yorkers of color should experience. Shout out to Please Tell Me! Let's keep this place going.
Dec 19, 2024
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People are constantly asking me where to go out in New York, but thatās kind of a hard question to answer. What I try to encourage people to do is get together with a group of people they love and go somewhere they would normally never go. People are far too fucking pretentious about their nightlife in this city and if youāve spent every weekend for the last three months at Basement or Bossa or whatever, youāre probably chasing something youāll never actually catch. I have the most fun when my friends go somewhere out of our ordinary, with people weād never normally associate with. All of this to say: Itās ok to go dance at ACME sometimes.
Jan 23, 2023
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Iāve lived in the same apartment in BedStuy, Brooklyn for over a decade now. I moved here to flee the nightlife scene in Williamsburg, which had become tedious living on Grand Ave. Then a few years later, the action followed me, and now my neighborhood is robust with newer bars and restaurants catering to gentrifiers like myself. Bar LunĆtico is one of those watering holes; one that I actually feel lucky to live quite near. The bar, which is excellent, has live music every night. No tickets, first come first serve, and the owner passes the hat around, all of which goes to the musicians. Iāve seen ensembles from Morocco, Brazil, Hungary. Itās nice to have a place you can just show up to and expect to see some really interesting music youāve never heard before. The atmosphere is confidently cool without being pretentious, and in a city where most bars have morphed into this hemogenous urban nightlife experience, its unique in a way thatās become increasingly rare. See you there perhaps?
Oct 19, 2021
full disclosure i work with the venue but that is only because i went and loved it so much. itās perfect. some things about it:
- the dance floor is an immersive art installation
- incredible bookings of up and coming artists and big names by the co-owner/operator and creative director who is herself a dj
- the sound is so good its insane. perfectly tuned and balanced
- the dance floor has some āgiveā to it so itās wicked comfy to dance on ā i never get sore
- thereās COAT HOOKS *on* the dance floor
- the drinks are delish. theres this one cocktail called āthe coffeeā it is to die for. thereās a sick happy hour but drink prices are always reasonable
- the bathrooms are made for selfies but in a genuinely cool way
- the dance floor is intimate but thereās tons of seating and tables and places to chill throughout the rest of the venue (and you can hear all the music on the same sound system)
- the service is insanely good everyone who works there is so kind
- i never once have felt awkward or out of place there itās just such a good vibe and i always make new friends
thereās more but i canāt put it all in one post or iāll be here all night
Apr 3, 2025
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I'm often accused of being an "old soul", a categorization I vehemently dislike because it pretends as if my taste is because of nostalgia, as opposed to what is actually cool and compelling. (If something cool comes out now, I enjoy it, but we're in a down period when it comes to culture). But, something old about me, is that I do not care at all about TikTok ending, if does happen. If Elon takes it over from the Chinese, you might as well leave anyway, but I'm just worried at why this is a huge deal for people. It's just an app. Another one will be made. TikTok is not culture, it directly flattens culture into these ten second clips that take music, movies --- things that you need to process --- into something that is now consumed by everyone at a rapid pace, not allowing for the nuances, the style, the aesthetics to sit with us.
I have never watched something on TikTok and thought that this is something in that pushing American culture to deeper heights. I am sorry. Now I am sure they're good stuff on the app, but it's not really a necessity. Whenever I hear the words "it's blowing up on TikTok", my mind immediately growls.
I understood why X becoming overrun with Elon bots and right wingers is a big deal; X actually created things, made careers, made American life, and American events available to be seen by everyone. However, TikTok is a corrupt fantasy, chopping at the wires that make physical connection important.
Read a book! Go to the movies! Go to the restaurant of a cuisine that is unheralded, go to a baseball game. Who cares about TikTok?
Jan 14, 2025
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There's something quite startling about Martin Scorsese's 1980's period compared to the rest of his decades as one of America's greatest filmmakers. In the 80's, he was weird, strange, and making weirdly manic films that feel more New York than even some of his movies about the mob. They're movies about characters who aren't glamarous people that they want to be, but rather, are losers who can't seem to correctly fucntion in normal society. They're non-violent sociopaths. I saw The King of Comedy at Metrograph recently, and it's exhilarating, hilarious, manic, and scary. With Jerry Lewis, Bobby De Niro and Sandra Bernhard, Scorsese was able to create a world where incels who are bad at comedy are wishing for fame. Sound familiar?
This is a great movie. In 1983, it was a box office flop. But in 2025, it is magical in how it's telling the future. A future of scam artists who don't want to work to get there, and don't want to sit in their mediocrity: they want to steal to get their fifteen seconds. Go watch this masterpiece.
Jan 28, 2025
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I am a NBA boy at heart, the players who play in the Association are the greatest athletes on the planet, and everyone should check out a piece I wrote on the Knicks: https://jaysonbuford.substack.com/p/the-knicks-are-struggling-to-be-fun
But MARCH MADNESS is here. So, look, college basketball can be overly sentimental, corny, for hick Midwesterns, and it is not the smart league that the NBA is. Imagine watching Nikola Jokic or LeBron James and that not being good enough for you. NBA haters are, like, a bad financial month away from being KKK members, hiding in plain sight.
However, the NCAA Tournament objectively rules. It shows games every day, every hour, non-stop, teams that you would normally not see play, and upsets, upsets that break your bracket. Upsets happen because mid-major teams get better throughout the year, especially when they play tougher competition before the conference schedules start. It's awesome to when they pull off a shocking upset.
The games are on all day! watch them! BA BA BA BA BASKETBAKLL, GIMME GIMME GIMME THE BALL CAUSE I'M GONNA DUNK IT
Mar 20, 2025