Gen Z is ditching booze for sober-centric hubs in NYC: Shocked people are in here having fun without alcohol
Zoomers want a wild night on the town they won’t wake up regretting.Gen Z is drinking alcohol far less than previous generations, a trend that has been holding steady for the past four years, data shows.Instead, young adults are getting their social fixes at sober-friendly gathering hubs and alcohol-free bars that have been sprouting up throughout the Big Apple in recent years to accommodate what some are saying is a sign of changing times.“I think our generation is very aware, like a lot of us are activists and I think that awareness influences our drinking habits,” Aedin Weisenberg, 22, told The Post last week as he painted a figurine at Brooklyn Game Knight in Industry City.“You’d think we drink more with all the stuff we’re hearing about the world constantly! You’d think we want a distraction but I think our phones are distraction enough so we don’t need as much alcohol.” Weisenberg, along with partner Cameron Cohen, 23, was among 15 people enjoying a Thursday night at the board game hub — which doesn’t serve alcohol to its patrons, though it doesn’t mind if they bring in booze from other bars located in Industry City.Owner Frank L.Szelwach, 47, notes that customers run the gamut from early twenties to their early fifties, but has noticed that the younger crowds drink far less than their older counterparts.
That’s not to say that Gen Z gamers are totally sober — but could have an overall healthier relationship with alcohol than older Americans.“When people of the previous generation think of drinking, they think of binge drinking.They think of going to a bar, slamming back 12 drinks and being hammered the next night.
They think of the idea of cracking open a six-pack before they go to bed,” said Uriel Daluz, 26, who was one of the few sipping a cocktail at the Sunset Park gaming club.“One thing I will say: Part of it is a different conceptualization of drinking.I will have a drink or two, but I don’t go out with the inten...