Dates are blurry but I'm going to try to type everything that I remember for the sake of remembering.
Here is a rundown of some of the characters I met in New York:
Ren and I had a great run - approximately a month and a half of dating consistently, seeing each other multiple times a week and in general having a great connection. He actually was the only person on my entire trip who I developed personal feelings for and actually cared about.
Martin is a guy I had met on OkCupid. He is Czech, was staying at a friend's in Far Rockaway and had only been in New York about a week before I met him. Subsequently he moved to an apartment on the Upper East Side with a guy named Robert. Martin also has a dog named Pablo who was brought across from Prague about two weeks after I met him. Martin and Robert were a big part of my final weeks in New York. I saw them frequently, we always had great conversations and Robert's fire escape was the scene of many great times. Robert is an art teacher at a private school in the Bronx. He paints and also designs clothing while Martin is a photographer/art director/creative type. Martin and I became really close since we share a lot of the same ideologies and outlooks, and we had intense conversations, funny conversations and a lot of fun together. He also is looking for a job currently, and since I didn't work we had a lot of free time to spend together.
Tali is a beautiful New Yorker I met one afternoon in February at the Ritz. I was alone, she was with a friend named Ronak across the bar from me. Ronak called me over in a friendly manner and we all started speaking. The rest is history. We became friends, I hung out with Ronak a few times and it was always fun but Tali and I especially became close since we both lived in New York and were young and didn't know many people. She lives in a beautiful studio overlooking 9 Ave in Hell's Kitchen, was always up for coming to gay bars with me and we fell in love with each other.
Two weeks before I left my friend Kristian from Trinidad visited (from Friday 17th May - Sunday 19th). It was amazing, considering I hadn't had any visitors in New York until he came. It was fun showing him around, feeling like I knew things about the city, etc. The first day we went to Times Square, had breakfast close by and then shopped like crazy teenage girls. Then we headed to Chelsea which was somewhat boring, on to the West Village where we drank copiously at Boots and Saddle, one of my favourite hangouts. After B&S, I took Kris to the East Village to Yuca Bar for their amazing mojitos. After that, everything was a blur. We got intensely drunk... at about 2PM in the East Village. It was funny, but it didn't feel funny at the time. I was hunched over on a stoop on E 7th Street for about an hour while Kristian took numerous compromising photos of me. An example of such photos:
Kris was staying in Williamsburg so at about 4PM we headed there and completely passed out in his bed, only to wake up around 10PM to text messages and a voicemail from Ren since we were supposed to meet him in Times Square to see The Great Gatsby. Suffice to say, I felt like a dumbass for a) ruining Kris' first night in New York and b) standing up Ren when I really wanted to see him. All worked out well though, since I sent Ren a text and he told me to come spend the night at his place anyway which I did gladly and Kris was admittedly tired after his 12-hour bus ride from Toronto and wanted to rest up.
The next day, I messaged Kris to meet me on Christopher Street with specific instructions on which trains to take. Of course he took the right train lines but went in the opposite direction which was hilarious. He ended up at Penn Station/34th Street instead of taking a Downtown 1 train to Christopher. All in all, it was an adventure for him and he did eventually make it (like a true New Yorker). There was a fair on Christopher Street so we walked around for a bit, had massive sausage dogs that weren't as delicious as they were impressive, then decided to head to the Staten Island Ferry terminal so he could see the Statue of Liberty. The plan was to take the ferry itself to SI so we could get some views of Lady Liberty and he could snap some pictures, but the terminal was paaaacked and Liberty Island didn't open until Memorial Day (which was the following weekend) so we just went upstairs and viewed the statue through the glass windows of the ferry terminal.
It was a pretty dreary day (contrasted to the beautiful weather of the day before) and we headed back uptown to Hell's Kitchen where there was also a huge street fair on 9th Avenue. The events that followed were both hilarious, terrible and fun.
We first headed to Rudy's which had become one of my go-to spots. Free hot dogs and $3 beer was like heaven. After eating and polishing off some beer on the rainy outside patio, we went to Posh on W51st where Kristian flirted shamelessly with the very cute bartender. His name was Ricky (like Martin), he was Latino (like Martin) and his body was super fucking cut (like Martin). I asked to touch his nipple and he was very gung ho for it. I will hold that cherished memory close to my heart for the rest of my life.
After getting slightly sloshed at Posh, we headed to Boxer's on 50th. By far, the most fun I'd had in Boxer's my entire trip was with Kristian (which makes sense. Trinis know how to party). After being there for about half hour I went downstairs to use the facilities. Back upstairs, Kristian is taking pictures with a huge group of drag queens and ladies. I jumped into the picture, excited that we had made new friends. These drag queens were serious. They had had a show earlier that day at Traffic and were crazy. One of them really liked Kristian and he showed us his picture of him as a guy (he was infinitely cuter as a man, which almost never happens for DQs but who were we to judge?) After getting smashed yet again, I made out with who I presumed was a cokehead from Alabama who I had met on the street in the fair. He was cute (although Kris insisted he wasn't), I was drunk and it was funny. We behaved badly, went down into the restrooms and fooled around for a bit. I would've felt like a whore except I was drunk, it was Saturday and why the fuck shouldn't I?
Upstairs once again, a guy who was hanging out with the drag queens and I started to have a conversation. He was a red-haired Jew who wore glasses. Again, I thought he was cute and Kristian argued that he wasn't (he was probably just jealous that he could only pick up a drag queen. Snap) and this guy and I proceeded to make out, do dirty acts and then got thrown out of Boxers. It. Was. Awesome. I'd never been thrown out of anywhere in New York, plus the fact that it was Boxers was poignant and hilarious.
I found Kris, told him I was getting the boot out of the bar and we left with Kirsten, one of the drag queens' friends. She was going to a friend's apartment in HK and invited us to come along. Kristian peed on someone's stoop (which was funnier while we were drunk but slightly horrendous to think about in retrospect) and we headed to Kirsten's friends' place. They had a beautiful apartment overlooking 10 Ave and we drank some more, flirted with the guys whose apartment we were at, went to the roof and took a bunch of pictures like piny tourists, compared penises (because what else do gay guys do in New York?) and engaged in tons of debauchery.
When we left, Kris headed back to Williamsburg and I went to Ren's apartment to spend the night.
On Kristian's last day (Sunday 19th), we had breakfast in Brooklyn and then took the G train all the way to Park Slope which takes fucking forever. After that we headed to Times Square to meet one of his mum's friends, Lisa, who lives in Greenwich Village. We had a lot of fun with her, she was gracious and funny and kept buying us alcohol. First we went to a bar off 42 Street which was alright. Then we headed uptown to collect some documents and then went to the Meatpacking District for more alcohol. The Meatpacking is beautiful - everyone is trendy and fancy and shiny. After that we had some dinner in Chelsea and then bade Lisa goodbye. I dropped Kris off at Port Authority and we had a tearful goodbye, then I headed to Ren's again to spend the night.
All in all, Kristian's weekend was a lot of fun. We're best friends and I hadn't seen him in months and probably won't again for many more (he lives in Canada now) so it was nice to reunite in the Empire State. Very fitting :).
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