The NYC MegaDopefest Planning Committee is pleased to announce the final (as of now) schedule for the MegaDopefest. For all those planning to attend (or who are listed as attending but will not), please post in this thread confirming that you will be there (or won’t or are still not sure). Also, please mention whether you plan to come to the Thursday Korean Dinner and/or the Billdo Bagel Brunch so that we may make reservations and send directions.
Also, in order to keep this thread to a manageable length, we would appreciate it if you could keep posts in this thread to comments and questions about the Dopefest, the attendees, and arrangements. Also, we will be posting additional details about events, parking, transportation lodging and other items of interest. If you want to start a pre-Dopefest flirting or woo-hoo I’m going to New York thread, for pre-Dopefest chatter, feel free.
Thursday, January 2: The Pre-Dopefest Korean Dinner
For those in the City a bit early, we will be having dinner at Kum Gang San, 49 West 32nd Street., just east of Sixth Ave. at 7:00 p.m. 1/2/3/9, to 34th St/Penn Sta, B/D/F/V or N/R/Q/W to 34th St Herald Square.
Please post if you plan to attend so we can make reservations.
Friday, January 3: The Welcome to Dopefest Gathering
After an extensive search, we have identified a Friday Night base of operations. From 7:00 p.m. until at least 11ish, we will have New York dopers there to greet all visitors at The Bleecker Street Bar, 58 Bleecker Street, between Broadway & Lafayette Street. 4/5/6 to Bleecker Street, F/V to Broadway/Lafayette, N/R to Prince St. The Bleecker Street Bar is handicapped accessible, with a no-step entrance in the back. Dopers under 21 planning to attend, please e-mail me. We should have a sign saying “Friends of Cecil A.” or something to that effect.
Around the Bleecker Street Bar are tons of places to eat and other forms of entertainment. We may be sponsoring a group to go dancing later in the evening. Details to follow.
Saturday, January 4: Daytime Cultural Events
During the day on Saturday, January 4, we will be sponsoring three cultural events for dopers:
[ul][li]Dim Sum Lunch in Chinatown and an Art of the New York City Subways tour.[/li][li]The American Museum of Natural History.[/li][li]The Children’s Museum of Manhattan[/li][/ul]
For each of the events, we now plan to meet up at around 1:00 p.m. (subject to change) at locations to be announced. Details of each event will follow.
Saturday, January 4: The MegaDopefest Dinner
The MegaDopefest Dinner will return to America Restaurant on Saturday, January 4, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.
America, 9 East 18th Street
New York, NY 10003, (212) 505-2110. 18th Street between Broadway and Fifth. 4/5/6, N/R/Q/W or L trains to 14th Street/Union Square.
[Official link with menus](http://www.arkrestaurants.com/section_home.cfm?section_id=1&location_id=1&restauran t_id=1)
Reservation for “Cecil Adams” party. According to the restaurant, it is handicapped accessible.
Following the Dinner, we will adjourn around the corner to the No Idea Bar. 30 East 20th Street between Park and Broadway, Official Link, where we have the back room reserved. No Idea is handicapped accessible. Dopers under 21 planning to attend, please e-mail me.
Sunday, January 5: Billdo’s Bagel Brunch
On Sunday, January 5, from 11:00 to 2:00, we will see how many people we can stuff into a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at Billdo’s Bagel Brunch. There will be bagels with all the trimmings and plentiful coffee and juice. My apartment is hung-over accessible (and we can get a ramp for the few steps in the lobby, if necessary). If you’re planning to attend, please post here so I may send you directions and have sufficient food. (If your e-mail isn’t listed, please e-mail me.)
Travel Arrangements:
For those flying in, we recommend you use LaGuardia, Kennedy or Newark airports. Airport information, including ground and public transportation options, is available here.
Intercity rail service is available through Amtrak to New York’s Penn Station. Commuter rail service is available through Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and New Jersey Transit. Bus service is available to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
People have mentioned they’re staying at the Hotel Olcott, 27 West 72nd Street, (212) 877-4200; Hotel Wolcott, 4 West 31st Street, (212) 268-2900; and Red Roof Inn Manhattan, 6 West 32nd Street, (212) 643-7100.
Once in the City, you can get around by New York City Transit buses and subways.
Folks, please remember that is New York City, with big city prices here. If you come into the City with just a few bucks in your wallet, it won’t stretch far, much less through a whole weekend. Also, we have an 8-1/4% sales tax and tipping is an important additional cost on the price of food and drinks here. America will include a 18% gratuity on the bill, and that’s about the standard percentage tip here. We’ve had problems with some that didn’t realize this before, and we don’t want to have similar problems this year.
Driving directions and parking information will be provided soon.
Current List of Expected Attendees:
Please post here to confirm whether you will be attending, will not be attending, or still aren’t sure.
We’re Expecting to See You (78): Acrylic Vessel, Alphagene, Ace of Swords, andygirl, Banger, beerchick, biggirl, Billdo, Bluesman, bouv, Cajun Man, Canby, Ceejaytee (with Mr. Tee & BabyTee), Colibri, Cosmopolitan, Daerlyn, dalovindj, DAVEW0071, delphica, Demo, Dewey Cheatem Undhow, DrMatrix, DynoSaur, Elenfair, Eonwe, Eutychus, fizzestothetop, Geobabe, GingerOfTheNorth, Gorgon Heap, Green Bean (and the Bean Sprout), Hamadryad, Hastur, iampunha, JerseyDiamond, Jessica2, Joe_Cool, JoeyHemlock, JohnBckWLD, LaurAnge, LindyHopper, lno, LolaCocaCola, Lucretia, Maeglin, manhattan, matt_mcl, Morrison, Mnementh, mrblue92, Nacho4Sara, New & Improved Scott, Overengineer, OxyMoron, Persephone, psuedotriton ruber ruber, psucat90, Pucette, Rasa, ResIpsaLoquitor, RTFirefly, scott evil, SmackFu, slowhand53, Soda, Sue Duhnym, thinksnow, typo mna, TruePisces, UncleBill, Verrain, vix, waterj2, WeirdDave, whatmove, Wonko the Sane, Zappo
We’re Not Sure Whether We’ll See You (25): BluesKids, CrazyCatLady, DoctorJ, Ell, imthjckaz, Jadis, JavaMaven1, JustPlainBryan, MandaJO (& Mr. JO), MannyL, monstro, Morgyn, MsRobyn (& BabyDoors), Queen Of Hearts, pravnik, racinchikki, Ringo, samclem, Scotticher, Sophie, Spider Woman, ultress, Wisest Novel, zette
We’re Sorry We Won’t See You (15): Acrylic Gorgon Heapette, Airman Doors, Arden Ranger, Anahita, bristlesage, CasperQ, Eve, Francesca, Honey, Miss Creant, Mr. Cynical, Rebound Guy, Sakura, Skerri, Tripler
Special Thanks to the volunteers on the New York Dopefest Planning Committee: canby, Cosmopolitan, delphica, Green Bean, vix, manhattan, OxyMoron, Pucette, TruePisces, and everyone else that helped.
