A potluck lunch was held in Chelsea last Sunday and 700 or so neighbors showed up! It was the third annual “Longest Table” party in New York City that brought together hundreds of neighbors and friends from all around the city to break bread together on a beautiful fall afternoon.
The block-long dining table and chairs were set up all along West 21st Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues. Participants were encouraged to bring a dish and share it with others at their table. In addition to fostering community connections, the event has led to increased communication and support among neighbors, many of whom had met each other for the first time.
“I passingly knew my neighbors [before], but during COVID I really got to know them because we were each other’s lifelines,” Maryam Banikarim, a longtime Chelsea resident, and event founder told the New York Post at the event. “There’s also this epidemic of loneliness and mental health issues,” she added. “People have this incredible desire, particularly post-COVID to connect with each other in real life.”
The block-long potluck inspired David, a Chelsea neighbor. “The longest table gave me a renewed dopamine hit of NYC,” he said. “And it was lovely meeting neighbors I see, but I’ve never met. It was perfect – an eclectic mix of young and old, gay and straight, public and private…and everything in between.”
The Longest Table is a free, volunteer-run event. Neighbors sign up to host portions of the long table, invite their family and friends, and coordinate the who will bring what dishes and beverages. Individuals can also reserve a seat at the group tables.
The neighborhood event has also been replicated in other cities around the world, including Kansas City, Cloverdale (CA) and Paris. Banikarim hopes to expand the project, with dreams of one day connecting all of New York’s boroughs at one table and celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with a massive Longest Table across the country.
Interested in hosting a Longest Table potluck in your city? Contact the organizers at Longesttablenyc.com and they’ll help you start planning.
Photo: Mandy Ansari/Chelseanewsny.com
Video: Parker Foster/The Longest Table
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