It’s a Monday afternoon at the Wine Spot, the cozy Macdougal Street spot known for its extensive wine list and romantic atmosphere. But instead of candles flickering against the brick wall, sunlight dapples the floorboards.
In a few hours, cozy couples will be apt to canoodle in dark corners, but now, at midafternoon, the majority of patrons are sitting solo, their heads bowed in concentration over their laptops. Occasionally, the clink of a glass or low murmur of conversation disrupts the library-like silence, but even the atmospheric background noise doesn’t detract from the fact that this is clearly a space to get work done.
Coffee shops, long known as the de facto office space of creative freelance types, are getting some stiff competition.
More and more New York City bars are opening their doors during daylight hours, offering drink specials, full menus, free Wi-Fi and plenty of space for thirsty freelancers to spread out. And when it comes to hitting the bar during the day, lots of self-employed types are finding that the multitude of alcoholic options is an afterthought.
“I used to work in coffee shops, but the espresso machines and music are usually way too loud,” explains Adrienne, who recently headed to the Wine Spot after becoming too frustrated with the crowded West Village cafes near her apartment.
“I found this spot [through] an app that [finds] free Wi-Fi locations, but I’d definitely come back. The music’s not too loud, and they have real food as opposed to just snacks. All those factors are necessary when you’re looking for a good place to work,” explains the digital advertising exec, who didn’t want to use her last name due to privacy reasons.
For her, wine isn’t a prerequisite — she spent the afternoon drinking tea. And although she prefers to work sober, she plans to come back to the Wine Spot in the near future because of the laid-back ambience it offers, which she feels coffee shops lack.
Christina, 32, a filmmaker who doesn’t want her last name used so her clients won’t think she’s drinking on the job, agrees a relaxed scene is the intoxicating draw that leads her to Abilene, a burger and beer joint close to her Carroll Gardens apartment, several times a week.
“Coffee shops always have those tiny little bistro tables,” she explains. “And since everyone goes to coffee shops, there’s so much elbow-jockeying to find a good table and an outlet that works. You just want to get to work instead of wandering around with your laptop looking for a spot.”
Normally, Christina will stick to soda while she works, but she likes the fact that she can easily transition to a beer once happy hour rolls around.“I used to work in coffee shops, but the espresso machines and music are usually way too loud.”
For others, the ability to crack open a beer mid-project is part of the appeal of bellying up to the bar to get work done.
“Sometimes, you hit a wall with whatever you’re working on, so it’s nice to debrief with a beer or a whiskey,” explains Carroll Gardens resident Aaronson Chew, 28, a grad student who works on his dissertation at Abilene several times a week and usually will order a beer or a whiskey during a writing break.
And more and more creative types are turning on to this trend.
“This is basically a Mac store during the day,” observes Christopher Kmet, one of the bar managers at VBar on Sullivan Street. “Most of the time, people stick to coffee until 5 or 6 p.m., but all it takes is one person to order a beer in the afternoon, and then more people follow suit,” he adds.
As odd as it sounds, science even supports tippling while typing.
A 2012 study from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that moderate intoxication — a blood alcohol content around the legal driving limit of .08 — can improve creative problem solving because it facilitates outside-the-box thinking.
“There are some tasks that we seem to do better on if we aren’t too focused on a solution,” explains Jennifer Wiley, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois and senior author of the study, who adds that it’s a smart idea to revisit any work while sober. “Too much focus can cause us to miss small or remote ideas.”
Daniel Abramowitz, 22, a Bushwick-based humor writer for the someecards.com blog who works at VBar once or twice a week, agrees that having a beer or two is integral to his creative process.“Sometimes, you hit a wall with whatever you’re working on, so it’s nice to debrief with a beer or a whiskey.”
“It’s really good to occasionally turn off that self-censor when you need to get out a draft,” he explains.
Others agree but caution that there’s a limit to how much one can imbibe before productivity takes a nose dive. Sunset Park resident Mike Devine says he and his girlfriend spent one recent morning working at a nearby coffee shop around the corner, but headed over to VBar when they both decided a beer would be the perfect midafternoon pick-me-up.
“Having one beer while doing work quiets my brain down and makes me productive, at least for a little while,” says the 25-year-old graphic designer. “After two drinks, there’s a major drop-off.”
Being aware of the drop — and switching over to coffee or water before you reach it — is apparently the secret daytime drinkers have found that keeps them productive . . . and their bosses happy with their results. Productivity expert Julie Morgenstern, author of “Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life,” agrees that knowing yourself — and not being overly dependent on a daily drink or two to grease the creative wheels — is essential for working barflies.
“Writing or doing anything creative is emotionally charged, so there’s definitely an impetus to want to do something, like have a drink, to relax,” she says. “I’d advise people to be conscious of why they’re having a beer, and to make sure they don’t fall into a routine where they have to drink in order to work.”
Sometimes, the psychological benefit of drinking while other people are on the clock has nothing to do with alcohol content.
“Because I work in an artistic field and feel really, really lucky not to be tied down to a desk at a 9-to-5 job, sometimes I’ll order a beer just because I feel like I’m winning,” Christina says, laughing. “It’s so out of the norm to be able to grab a beer and keep working. It reminds me I’m my own boss.”
And who can deny the boss when she wants a beer?