By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-01 13:37:26 | Updated at 2025-01-04 07:51:58
2 days ago
The forecast for Dry January is looking very wet.
The trend among the sober-curious in the Big Apple has seemingly dried up — with New Yorkers calling the once-hip phenomena “stupid.”
The Post spoke with more than 100 partiers Saturday night — and only a handful said they had any plans to give up the bottle for the next month.
“I am definitely not doing Dry January, that’s not gonna happen,” said Celine DeJesus, 21, a Brooklynite enjoying a friend’s birthday at Verlaine in the East Village in Manhattan.
Her eight girlfriends said in resounding agreement: “No, no way!”
Standing nearby, Dimitri Bierre’Lius, a 35-year-old firefighter from Rosedale, Queens, said he was not even considering taking a break from drinking.
“I am not a quitter,” he quipped to The Post.
The lack of interest in swearing off alcohol for the next month could signify the end of the heyday for Dry January — a break that experts say improves sleep quality, contributes to weight loss and leads to an overall boost in mood.
The trend gained traction nationally in recent years, with a whopping 25% of Americans over the age of 21 opting for virgin drinks to start 2024, according to a study by Civic Science.
The movement has been largely spearheaded by young people, with roughly 35% of abstainers falling into the 21-24 age group last year — a craze that Gen Z New Yorkers now seem to abandoning in 2025.
“We’re all college students, there’s no way we’re gonna go an entire month without drinking,” said a young man enjoying beers with his friends at Niagara on East 7th Street and Avenue A in Manhattan.
A young woman added: “What’s the point of doing it just for one month? And then you’re gonna go back to it?”
Several barflies told The Post that life is way too stressful to give up their booze, while others said there is nothing better to do in the cold winter months besides drink. Some pointed out that giving up alcohol would remove a massive aspect of their social lives.
For other drinkers, the popularity of Dry January elsewhere is enough to dissuade them.
“I think it’s stupid. It’s very popular now, which makes me want to do it less,” said Nick Canfield, 39, a documentary filmmaker, from inside Cerveceria Havemeyer in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Another bar patron — an urban planner who asked to remain anonymous — said he had no plans to give up his mezcals.
“I am not going dry. I don’t drink that much. The only time I’ve gone without drinking was when I did hard drugs,” he said.
Justin K., 35, is refusing to partake in the trend, too. saying he already checked off Dry January once in his lifetime.
“I did it two years ago to prove that I am not an alcoholic. I realized I don’t have a drinking problem at all and that alcohol is my friend,” he said as he puffed cigarettes with friends outside The Commodore in Williamsburg.
The turn-away from Dry January could be a good thing for local bars, if not their bar-hoppers.
Sales tanked roughly 40% at more than 350 Big Apple bars thanks to the trend in 2023, according to a New York City Hospitality Alliance survey.
Ride-sharing app Lyft also said ridership going to and from bars decreased 10% nationally in January 2024 — the largest drop in the past four years.
“Sales generally go down in January,” said Isabella Gmelch, a bartender at Whisky Town on East 3rd Street in Manhattan.
The casual bar introduced a mocktail for January called the Snuffleupagus, made from Coca-Cola, grenadine, lemon and grapefruit juice, to try to make up for it. Non-alcoholic options are becoming more and more popular in general throughout the year, the staff noted.
And Dry January has not completely dried up for plenty of New Yorkers.
Joe P., who was enjoying a night out at Milanos on Houston Street in Manhattan, said he wasn’t sure he could completely give up drinking but said he might slow down his consumption.
“I’ll dip my toe in, you know? I call it ‘Damp January,’’’ he said.
Allan Perez, 25, has tried Dry January for several years now but has never made it through the full 31 days.
“Every year I try. I never last an entire month. Let’s see how far I make it this year,” Perez said.
One man told The Post that participating in Dry January has been a frequent topic of conversation among his group of friends, who spend every weekend drinking together.
“Socially and professionally there is a lot of pressure to drink every weekend,” said the East Villager and Google employee outside d.b.a on First Avenue.
“I know some of my other friends are doing it,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “That’s probably the primary reason I am considering it. Like, we’re in it together. If all my friends are on the same page, there might be less judgment and we might do something else together as a group and not go to a bar on Saturdays.”
The group of friends abstained from alcohol two years ago — a change of pace that forced them to explore other splendors of the Big Apple, such as playing pool, going to museums and trips to Central Park, he said.
Dry January might provide the perfect excuse for an alcohol break for the 30-something — who acknowledged he “blacks out” 10% of the time he drinks.
“Drinking lets you forget your anxieties,” he said.
