“We’ve reached a tipping point,” said Erik Heitz, one attendee, about the bar scene. Richman described the bar scene as “sensory deprivation,” meaning no one truly sees or hears one another. “I don’t feel like being in a bar or a club is conducive to getting to know people,” said Michael Richman, who has a business knitting jockstraps and harnesses and began a monthly nude knit night in an apartment in Harlem last year. You couldn’t call it a knitting explosion, exactly, but in small pockets - at yarn shops, apartments and gay bars throughout the city - a new kind of knitting circle is emerging. “The social interaction is priceless,” he said.įed up with awkward small talk and impersonal interactions at bars, some gay men in New York are looking for alternative ways to connect. The men laughed loudly at the resulting image, which transformed Mr. prevention, took out his cellphone and began taking pictures of Mr. Major stitched a black beanie, Cairo Romaguera, who works in H.I.V. Going out for drinks is too expensive and he’s sick of everyone glued to their phones, he said, so he decided to come to the guys’ knit night instead.Īs Mr.

Major was having a rough week and wanted to be around people.