Join the Club

Make like a high schooler, and pick an activity

By Kate Torgovnick
Published: Apr 17, 2008

School made it so easy. Every semester, you’d be thrown together with a new group of people, and after some make-fun-of-the-teacher bonding, bam, you had new female friends and oodles of potential guys to date. It’s not so easy to meet new people when you’re an adult. One solution—join a club. Here are seven fun, if slightly dorky, options in New York City. If you live elsewhere, never fear—log on to Meetup.com to find similar groups in your city.

Gotham Synchronized Swimming
When and Where: Sundays at 4:30pm at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Cost: $450 for 10 lessons
Number of group members: 30
Ratio of women to men: Almost 100 percent female
Who hasn’t dreamed of underwater pirouetting like Esther Williams? Gotham Synchronized Swimming is the city’s premiere synchro club, with both a competitive team and lessons for those who just want to have fun. Synchronized swimming happens to be one of the hardest core workouts out there, so you’ll no doubt firm some things in the process.

New York Museum Meetup Group
Check for Meeting Info: museum.meetup.com
Cost: $2 an event, plus cost of entrance
Number of Group Members: 1270
Ratio of women to men: 50/50
New York is the museum capital of the world, yet people who live here rarely take advantage. That’s why this group is great—you automatically have museum buddies to accompany you to exhibits and to trade brilliant insights with afterwards. And this group doesn’t just do exhibits—organizer Angelina Jao also schedules lectures, artist receptions, and other culturally impressive fare.

World Food Lover’s Dining Out Group
Check for Meeting Info: diningout.meetup.com
Cost: You pay for your meals and drinks.
Number of Group Members: 542 members total, about 15 per event
Ratio of women to men: 50/50
In this club, you’ll eat Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian, Burmese, Haitian, Yemeni, Norwegian, Turkish, Romanian, and Tajik—we can’t even place that one on the map. Meals are eaten family style, so you can have a little bit of everything. And since many members of the group have lived abroad, often in the country whose cuisine you are sampling, someone can help you steer clear of cow brain or equally appetizing ‘delicacies.’

New York Paranormal Detectives
When and Where: Meetings are held once a month, on a Tuesday night at 8pm. Locations vary.
Cost: None
Number of Group Members: 400, about 20 per meeting
Ratio of women to men: 60 percent female
No Scullys allowed. At this group, you can share the story of how your childhood home was haunted with like-minded paranormal believers. The group is led by Dom Villella, a legit paranormal investigator, so expect to hear some scientific info on this stuff. And no, there will not be a reenacment of the final scene in Ghostbusters.

Sit ‘n’ Knit
Check for Meeting Info: knitting.meetup.com
Cost: Free
Number of Group Members: 990 total, anywhere from 15 to 65 per event
Ratio of women to men: 90 percent female
Ever noticed the women knitting away on the subway? They’re on to something—knitting is stress-relieving, fun, and you have something to show for your effort at the end. This group holds knitalongs twice a week at various bars, parks, and coffee shops. Group events are for people who know what they’re doing, but they do hold “Sit ‘n’ Knit for Newbies” sessions to get beginners up to speed.

The Brooklyn Book Club
Check for Meeting Info: bookclub.meetup.com/18/
Cost: $1 per meeting
Number of Group Members: 370
Ratio of women to men: About 70 percent female
All the writers in New York have migrated to Brooklyn. So where better to join a book club? This one specializes in literary fiction and nonfiction—recent reads include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Bob Dylan. They also have a Ulysses support group.

APA Pool League of New York City
Info on When and Where: www.poolplaying.com
Cost: $20 annual dues, plus $30 per week of play
Number of Group Members: 8000
Ratio of women to men: 80 percent male
Nothing will make you feel cooler (or hotter) than being able to definitively sink the 8-ball. The American Pool Players Association of New York City is one of the biggest and most well-organized leagues in the country. Don’t worry if you totally suck—they use an “equalizer” system, so beginners can play experts and still have a chance of winning.

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