Galapagos Art Space…a Great Place To Socialize

One of the themes of this website is to develop a healthy, involved and engaged social life. One thing I really enjoy is to explore non-bar/club venues in the city, and get a feel for how “social” the environment is. Does it facilitate interaction, or make that more difficult - that’s the big question.

Large dance clubs, for example, give a lot of space to the dance floor, and play very loud music. This hinders social interaction, in my experience. Unless of course there is an outdoors area - which are great. Unfortunately, a large portion of NY venues don’t have this (save the west-side hotels like the Gansevoort). LA venues always have an outdoors area.

I’ve always been more interested in creative venues, where something is “happening” live that assists socializing. Talking about the current context is a great way to engage in conversation, and having a live performance happening makes that rather simple.

Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO (Brooklyn) is a GREAT place to mingle and enjoy a classy, financially responsible night out. They feature a lot of music, theater and film as their attraction - but, the design, layout and flow of the space is very very cool.

For one, the seating areas are pod-like, and are all surrounded by water. The presence of water calms the entire vibe, and makes the space feel very fresh and alive. The seating pods are too big for just a few people to sit in, thus it forces you to be seated in and amongst other people in the venue.

In the back, near the door, is the bar area, which is an extension of the venue as a whole. From the bar, you can see the stage and all of the seats on the ground floor. The only drawback to the space, is that the bar area is rather small - making it the lone communal spot in the space. So, if you wanted to meet someone who was also there AND you weren’t in their seating pod, you’d have to find a way to meet them at the bar or out front.

There is also a balcony, which overlooks the ground floor giving you a birds-eye view of the bulk of the people while also feeling very private. A great spot to sit with a date, for example.

The front of the building is fantastic. The old cobble-stone street is still intact, and the view to the west is of the Manhattan bridge, and at night, the sunset is featured. Across the street is “Bubby’s” restaurant, which is a very tasty place which could even be your first stop on a date (for example). A nice southern-style meal to begin, and then a stroll across the street to Galapagos, would equate to a truly eclectic, intelligent and creative night spent in DUMBO.

Here is the current schedule of events at Galapagos:

Galapagos Event Calendar

Add/share any experiences with either spot below. Or, make any other recc’s in DUMBO. I am sure there are other great spots too.

Enjoy!

Stephen.