Manhattan’s most analog party starts with a confiscation. At the door on Thursday night, I slipped my iPhone into a black pouch and clicked it shut. No excuses. Time to make eye contact.
I’m 35 and newly back in New York. My plus one, Amanda, is 24 and could sort the room in seconds: tech bros here, corporate girls there, the deadpan “Gen Z stare” everywhere.
We treated the no-phones Offline party like an anxiety-inducing field test. I brought millennial loneliness and a habit of hiding behind a screen. Amanda brought cheerleader confidence and a faster stride. We stepped onto a roof of strangers to see who could survive longer without a screen.
I found the Offline party through, of all places, host Andrew Yang’s Instagram. I’d been prepping to interview the former presidential candidate about Noble Mobile, his new cellphone plan that pays users back for the data they don’t use.
A few days earlier, he’d posted shots from the last Offline bash — sweaty crowds of tech bros dressed for a demo day and women dancing shoulder-to-shoulder. Later in the week, he shared a video of himself plopping down in a park. The words “touch grass” burst into frame.
Going offline is on brand for Yang. In his 2020 presidential run, he appealed to voters by warning of the ills of automation and the threat to jobs. His proposed solution: a universal basic income that gives every adult American $1,000 a month with no strings attached.
The Yang Gang eats it up. They’re a low-key yet dedicated group of younger, mostly male tech workers, many of whom joined the hive during his presidential campaign. In the years since, they’ve diligently followed and frequented his no-phone parties, which require an RSVP through the online invite app Posh.
Yang’s seventh Offline of the year drew 1,600 RSVPs for a Manhattan rooftop lounge that holds about 500, organizers said. Entry was free and first-come, first-served.
While phones were banned, cameras were not. And so, equipped with a good old-fashioned camera and with Amanda by my side, we stepped into the party. Here’s what it was like.
The first question we had going into Offline was: Who’s going to these parties?
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Three minutes in, we had our answer. The Yang Gang.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
These guys made a beeline for the merch table and picked up shirts to promote Yang’s cellphone plan.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
We talked to a Harlem real-estate agent who worries about a tech-driven wipeout of entry-level jobs. He’s into UBI.
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Early in the party, we saw Yang snake across the dance floor, shaking hands with people as he fled to the roof for air.
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Behind a velvet rope, the star was a box of turf.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
Partygoers lined up for their official “touch grass” portrait, laying tender hands on the sod, which was literally put on a pedestal.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
Bartenders poured themed drinks like the Offline Mode with mezcal and banana liqueur.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
“Touch Grass” and “End the Brain Rot” pulsed in projected letters, turning the walls into a “Black Mirror”-style PSA.
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The venue — the popular club Somewhere Nowhere in Flatiron’s tech hub — was not the bumping, noisy lounge of Amanda’s nights past.
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Downstairs, the vibe was nightclub-meets-WeWork happy hour, where the DJ frat-flicked to pop music. Message boards invited you to share favorite books and pickup lines.
Amanda Yen/Business Insider
The no-phone rule really did inspire connection. Without a screen to check every few minutes, we were forced to look up, which meant making eye contact, which meant having a conversation.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
There was no dating app-inspired shyness in this room. Single men approached us openly. If you want to date a New York tech bro, Andrew Yang’s Offline parties are a swell place to start.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
Upstairs, the vibe shifted dramatically. It was cooler, calmer, and reminded us of the backyard house parties we reveled in as teenagers.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
Standing on top of the boarded-up pool — post-Labor Day in New York City, remember — we ran into a group of four 20-something women who’d just arrived.
Melia Russell/Business Insider
Why did they come? They thought it looked cool on Instagram.
Kamden Haynes
