u/Middle_Elderberry542

Hey everyone! After a great turnout at our first Forest Hills meetup at Cobblestones, I’d love to get a second one going before summer officially wraps up.

I’m thinking either the last weekend of August or one of the first two weekends in September. Before locking anything in, I wanted to see which dates generally work best for people and get some ideas for the location.

We could try another local bar or restaurant this time, or do something a little more activity based if anyone has a good suggestion. Drop your preferred weekend and any Forest Hills venue or activity ideas below!

Whether you came to the first meetup or missed it, everyone is welcome. Once I get a sense of availability and interest, I’ll post the confirmed plan.

Have a great weekend, all!

Thanks to everyone who came out last night! We ended up with around 15–20 people, and it turned into a really fun evening. It was awesome meeting such a diverse group, from tech and AI to healthcare, construction, education, nonprofits, students, and everything in between. Loved seeing the many couples who came. Some partners aren’t even on this Reddit sub, but they came with their spouse. Loved that! One couple said next time they’re bringing their kids. 😅

Great conversations, good food and drinks, and an easygoing vibe all around.

Really appreciate everyone who came, introduced themselves, and helped make it welcoming. It was also great seeing people stick around, mix, and meet new faces.

Based on all the positive feedback, I’d love to organize another one before the summer is over. What would you all be interested in?
- Another happy hour?
- Trivia night?
- Picnic in the park?
- Mini golf?
- Board games?
- Something else?

Drop your ideas below. Looking forward to seeing everyone again, and hopefully meeting some new faces next time!

P.S. We also have a “remote workers” group chat and we’re trying to kick off a meet up at a coffee shop to connect and see if the idea clicks. Let us know via DMs.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Based on the responses, here’s what we’re doing:

📅 Friday July 17th, 2026
🕗 8:00 PM
📍 Cobblestones: 117-18 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills

I’ve already spoken with the restaurant and requested a reservation for around 15–20 people under “Reddit.” I’m waiting for the manager to confirm, and I’ll update this thread once it’s finalized.

One question:
Would you prefer inside or outside seating?
(Weather permitting).

Also, if you know you’re planning to come, please leave a quick comment so I can give the restaurant the best headcount possible.

The goal is simple:
Meet some neighbors, grab a drink (or not), and have a fun evening.

No pressure, no formal networking event, no membership, no agenda—just a chance to meet some people from the neighborhood.

One thing I am thinking about is adding a couple of simple icebreakers so it’s easy for everyone to mingle, especially if you’re coming by yourself. Nothing cheesy—just enough to get conversations started. If anyone has ideas, feel free to share them.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

A few of us talked about meeting up in the last thread, so let’s stop talking about it and pick a day.

I’m happy to organize it and make the reservation under “Reddit.”

When next week?
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday

Time?
- 6:00 PM
- 7:00 PM
- 8:00 PM

Venue?
Cobblestones
Mojo
El Coyote
Jade

Comment with your preferred day, time, and venue.

By Sunday evening I’ll go with whatever gets the most interest, make the reservation, and post the final details.
The goal is simple: meet some new people from the neighborhood, have a drink (or not).

Everyone’s welcome.

I’ve always found the relationship between Trinidad and Guyana fascinating.

I’m Trinidadian, but some of my aunts and uncles married Guyanese, so my first cousins are half Guyanese. I’ve been to Guyana a handful of times, spent Christmases there growing up, and now live in the U.S., a lot of my friends are Guyanese too. So while I’m definitely looking at this through a Trinidadian lens, I’ve spent enough time around both cultures to notice some interesting differences.
Some of my Guyanese friends and a couple of Guyanese women I’ve dated have joked that Trinis are the party people of the Caribbean. We lime more, we’re louder, and a little more chaotic. I actually think there’s some truth to that. On the other hand, I’ve always found many Guyanese to be a bit more reserved, and one thing I’ve really admired is how intentional their communities seem to be, especially in New York. It feels like one person gets established, then helps the next person, then the next. There’s almost a system to it. I’ve also noticed that, historically, some Trinidadians seem to have looked down on Guyana because Trinidad was the wealthier country for so long. With everything that’s happened in Guyana over the last decade, I wonder if those attitudes are changing.

Maybe I’m completely off and maybe I’ve just been exposed to a unique mix of people. But every time I think about Trinidad and Guyana, I come back to the same analogy of chicken curry or curry chicken. Almost the same ingredients, the same roots, but somehow they became two distinct cultures.

I’ve been seeing angle numbers everywhere lately and was wondering what does it all mean? I see 4’s and 1’s. I went to Vegas a few weeks ago and I held pocket queens in my second hand on the poker table. lol, in writing this, I just checked the time and it’s 11:12. lol. I know it’s no 11:11, but pretty nice sequence too.

Should I be reading into this ?

I had an interesting conversation recently.
I’m Indo-Caribbean and was talking to a girl from the DR. She asked me what sports I follow and I said cricket.
Her response was, “That’s strange because cricket isn’t popular in the Caribbean at all.”
My first thought was, “What? Cricket is one of the biggest sports in the Caribbean.”
But then I realized we were both talking about different Caribbeans.
She was thinking DR, Puerto Rico and Cuba, where baseball is huge and cricket is basically nonexistent.
I was thinking Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, the West Indies team, CPL, World Cups, etc.
The funny thing is that we had originally connected over both being Caribbean, but the more we talked, the more I realized we came from two very different Caribbean worlds.
Neither of us was wrong.

And I guess the original question is: if someone asks whether cricket is popular in the Caribbean, what’s your answer?

Growing up in Trinidad, I always felt there was an underlying tension between Indians and Africans. Yet most of my Black friends as an adult in NYC have been Jamaicans, Americans, Nigerians, Guyanese, Ugandans, etc., and race was rarely a major issue in our friendships.
Has anyone else noticed this? Do Afro-Caribbeans and Indo-Caribbeans tend to get along better abroad than they do back home? Or am I imagining it?

I’ve been reading this sub a lot since the election and honestly I’m a little surprised by how much hostility there is between Indians and Africans in the comments. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent most of my adult life in New York, but some of these discussions feel completely disconnected from my own experience.

One thing I’ve always found interesting is that some of my close friends over the years have been Black. Jamaicans, Americans, Nigerians, Ugandans (who real like Trins.. 😆) Guyanese, small islanders etc. We never really thought much about race beyond the occasional joke.

But growing up in Trinidad, there always seemed to be this underlying tension between Indians and Africans that I never fully understood. And before anybody jumps on me, no, I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist. I’ve seen Indians say racist things. I’ve seen Africans say racist things. I’ve heard plenty of nonsense from both sides.

What I don’t understand is why every election season we end up acting like half the country hates the other half.
I support UNC and I don’t think UNC is a racist party. Other people disagree and that’s fine. But sometimes on this sub it feels like if you’re UNC you’re automatically racist, and if you’re PNM you’re automatically anti-Indian. Surely most people aren’t actually thinking like that in real life?
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe living abroad changed my perspective.

I was thinking about this after rewatching Friends. There’s an episode where Rachel starts smoking because all the smokers at work are constantly taking breaks together, and that’s where a lot of the informal conversations and inside information happen.

I experienced something similar myself. Years ago, I used to join my boss on smoke breaks. We built a better relationship because of it, and one day I even ended up chatting with the COO who happened to be outside smoking during a visit. It definitely felt like there was a little social club happening outside the office. But I never know how it was perceived by others. I don’t smoke now. I do vape, but there isn’t the social aspect because most of my colleagues are remote non-nyc based.

I’m curious whether that still exists in NYC workplaces today. Do people who vape take regular vape breaks together the way smokers used to? Is there still a networking and relationship building aspect to it?

Yesterday I asked whether strong UNC/PNM political differences could affect relationships or marriages in Trinidad and what I found interesting wasn’t really whether people answered yes or no, but more the contradictions in the responses themselves.

A lot of people said Trinidad is too mixed and socially fluid for politics to divide people the way it does in the US. But at the same time, some commenters straight up said they would never marry someone else from the opposite political party. Others quickly shifted the conversation to race, religion, ethnicity, community identity…. and so on.

It actually reminded me of this book, so thought I’d drop the link. It’s called “Callaloo or Tossed Salad? East Indians and the Cultural Politics of Identity in Trinidad” by Viranjini Munasinghe.

Google preview:

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801486197/callaloo-or-tossed-salad/

The basic idea here is that Trinidad likes to describe itself as Callaloo, with one blended national identity, but in reality it sometimes work more like a tossed salad, where different groups live closely together while still keeping certain social boundaries underneath. What stood out from the thread is that Trinidad kind of seems to be both things at the same time. Like deeply mixed culturally and socially, but still very emotionally sensitive around politics, race, religion, and identity.

Maybe the tension there is actually part of what makes Trinidad uniquely Trinidad?

Can two people with very different political ideologies date, be in a long term relationship, or get married? I’m not talking about people who are politically neutral or casual voters, but people with genuinely strong political opinions.

In the US, political ideology has become a major dealbreaker for many people. You’ll literally see dating profiles saying things like “if you’re MAGA/republican swipe left,” while conservatives openly say their political values come first.

I don’t think Trinidad is as politically divided as the US, but political debates here can still get very spicy.

Do any of you know long term couples where one person is strongly UNC and the other strongly PNM? Do people eventually influence each other politically, or do couples just learn to avoid the topic?