Habibi Lounge

A hookah (Hindustani: हुक़्क़ा / حقّہ huqqa) is a multi-stemmed, often glass-based, water pipe device for smoking. Originating in India, it gained fame in the Arab World when it traveled from Persia to Arabia. A hookah operates by water-filtration and indirect heat, never charring it's contents and thereby never releasing additional carcinogens. Unlike cigarettes, the molasses tobacco used with a hookah has no chemical additives and no tar.


Habibi Lounge is where we are gathering this Thursday night. Happy Hour drink specials 'til 10pm, DJ Skittlez on the ones and twos, and 15% of the sales from the night will be going to Team for Kids. So come on out and have a drink, or two or three... maybe more!

Habibi Lounge
198 Avenue A, between 12th and 13th Streets
Thursday, August 2nd
9:00 pm til we're all partied out

One of our very own Turtles will be moving cross-country in a couple of weeks, so join us as we send her off in style! Lay back on some velvety pillows, bop your head to some rhythmic music, and sip on some fine libations in an atmosphere of luxuriously flavored plumes of sheesha.

Warning: where there are Turtles, there will be dancing!!!
(Carol, watch your knees!)

Friday night = FUN!

Thanks to everyone who came out on Friday night! It may have started out slow, but we definitely ended with quite a lot of madness. Only two casualties have been reported so far: a ticket from the NYPD for public drinking of a PBR, and a busted knee for dancing like a maniac. I know I haven't danced like that in months. You guys are tons of fun, and I'm glad you were all there, supporting us and Team for Kids!

By the way, Paul says "hi" to everyone! (Hi Paulie!)

Party with the Turtles this Friday!

Come join us for a night on the town!
We're stepping out of our shells and onto the streets of Manhattan.

Here's the deal: Donate $10 and get a wristband

With this wristband you get free and discounted drinks at bars and clubs in the East Village all night long.

Fun starts at 6:30 pm: meet us at Singas Famous Pizza on the corner of 11th Street and 2nd Avenue for happy hour, where you get a free pint of beer with your personal pizza. Then the party moves on....

We will be bar-hopping, or pub-crawling, so-to-speak, and your job is to come have a good time. Different place every hour; you can follow us or move at your leisure. You come buy a wristband and we let you in on the details.

Bring a friend/lover/brother/sister/mother/enemy (of the state), as long as they're over 21, and we'll make sure you get your $10 bucks worth!

Besides supporting a good cause, and saving money on drinks, you are guaranteed a fun evening, as we promise to be as entertaining as always!

Kids don't walk to school anymore

I read an article on Tuesday in one of those publications that they hand to you when you get off the subway... You know, the kind you grab when the headline is ridiculous enough to amuse you into reading it, or it's raining out and you need an umbrella-of-sorts to cover your coif. Well, an article about fat kids spotted my eye, and it said that some study has concluded that children walk less now than they did before. So all that stuff that your parents have said about how, back in the day, it was so much harder for them, and how they had to walk 6 miles uphill both ways to get to school, apparently, is true. Well, sort of true.

Kids these days are getting less and less physical exercise. Whereas before there was some passive opportunity for physical activity in walking to and from school, kids are being driven door to door, and encouraged to stay indoors once they get to where they're going. Parents are reporting that it's just easier to drop their kids off on their way to work. It's also perceived to be safer, as parents are increasingly concerned about violence, accidents, and disasters that can occur while walking down the street, especially in the cities.

So with the decrease in the number of children who walk to school, and the decrease in physical education programs and funding within the school system, America's kids are becoming more and more sedentary as the prevalence of childhood obesity rises.

Good thing there are foundations out there like Team for Kids working to provide cities like New York with something for these kids to do... like running.

What you've all been waiting for...

Congratulations to the winners of our Fourth of July raffle!

First prize of a gourmet dinner for two goes to:

Paulie!!!
(crowd goes wild!)

Second prize of a One-Hour Therapeutic Massage goes to:

Sung!!!!

(whoot! whoot!)

Third prize of Date with a Turtle goes to:

Edward E.!
(can I get a what-what?)

Runner-up prize of a beach ball and rubber ducky goes to:

Ron M.!!!!!!
(yay!! cheer explosion!!)

Contact nini.wienie@gmail.com to claim your prize. Lack of response within 48 hours will result in a re-drawing and another winner will be chosen in your place.

Yen's sincere apologies

Here's a G-chat conversation from earlier today:

nini: I'm posting on the blog right now

Yen: please mention that if i offended anyone with my drunken behave i apologize
i am usually very tame and have been known to be a grandma most of time

nini: that's the old yen
we drowned her in a bottle of wine and shots of johnny walker
grandma yen hasn't been seen around these parts in months

Dancing in the Rain

To all you party people who came from far and wide to celebrate the Fourth with us, I salute you!!! You're a bunch of freakin' animals, you are.

As the sky darkened and the clouds loomed menacingly overhead, I was convinced that the barbecue would be a bust. The first few drops of rain seemed harmless enough, but as they increased in frequency and volume, I got a little nervous and we began devising a plan for the downpour that would inevitably follow. We moved the party downstairs, but the spirit of the flame had already taken hold, and there was nothing I could do but keep the grill dream alive.

Edward and Kevin were kind enough to rig an impromptu outdoor kitchen, which consisted of a piece of particle board perched precariously on top of the door to keep the rain off of me. How it stayed there throughout the night is a miracle of physics. We went through 60 hamburger patties, 16 hot dogs, 18 Italian sausages, 24 veggie burgers, 12 tofu dogs, homemade pasta salad, fresh greens, chips and dip, guac, hummus, pretzels, cookies, brownies, a big ol'bowl of cherries, and a big-ass watermelon... and folks were still hungry! There was nothing left to do but fill up on booze.

What began as a relatively mild fundraising event turned into a house party explosion after the fireworks extravaganza. Rain on the roof meant bodies went indoors, and when the music was turned up, it was all over from there. People were leaving, only to come back from the bodega across the street with fist-fulls of beer. After midnight, it was back on the rooftop, with bigger speakers and more stomping and screaming. When the skies opened and the rain came pouring down in buckets, you animals didn't stop. Do you even know when to stop?!

WE LOVE YOU! THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!

It was fun kicking you out.
I hope you all made it home safe last night.

The Party Goes On!!!!!!

Rain or shine, we will grill. Oh yes, we will.

Fourth of July Party's moved into the abode. Come one, come all. I feed you.