Why I’m Boycotting Slate NY… and Why You Should Too
Last night, Wednesday, January 16, 2013, I attended the Art of Happy Hour event at Bounce Sporting Club (55 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10010), which was hosted by a friend of mine. After a few drinks, five of us headed to Slate NY (54 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10010) for a quick bite before heading home. I’ve been to Slate NY a few times, mostly after the South ‘N The City party. It’s never crowded, I mean NEVER, which is one of the reasons we go. It isn’t because of the food or drinks, trust me…
So my friends and I pile into the venue and as usual, we’re seated immediately. Why? Because it’s empty as always. About 10 minutes later, we were ready to order. The waitress asked how we were paying. I found this to be weird. I mean, most restaurants don’t ask you how you’re paying when you order, right? We inform her that except for one person, we’ll all be paying cash. The waitress then asked for a credit card from each of us.
Hold up. Why do you need all of our cards if we’re paying with cash? (I’ve definitely been asked for ONE card to place an ENTIRE order before but not five cards.) Oh, I know why…because Black people run out of establishments without paying, right?We all turn over our cards but share “This shit ain’t right” glances across the table.
Most of my friends are on the social media application Foursquare. They check-in and discover that there is a free drink voucher. I login to redeem it. We tell the waitress about the voucher and she informs us that we must ask the man standing at the front desk. My friend and I walk over to him and display our phones.
Me: “Hi, we have a Foursquare voucher for a free drink.”
Him: *looks at our phones* “It doesn’t have a validate button.”
Me: “Oh. Well, where would that be?”
Him: “How would I know that? It’s your phone.”
Me: “Oh wow. Got it!” *walks back to table*
Him: *mumbles some incomprehensible shit*
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Is she really that mad she didn’t get a free drink?” No. I’m mad at the attitude and terrible customer service.
I bet you’re thinking this was a White guy, right? Nope he was a man of color, Black or Hispanic. I go back to my seat, but only for a second because I must know the name of this disrespectful man. He tells me “Roddy” and I calmly commence to tweeting.
And look at that, I’m not the only person who has had a terrible experience at Slate NY.
Everyone else’s food comes within the next few minutes, but mine comes much later. I ordered a salad. I suspect Roddy had something to do with this. I only ate a few bites, as racism tends to take away my appetite.
Our cards were returned to us and we paid cash. I gave a $50 bill for my $13 salad. The waitress only gave me $7 back…I guess an angry Black woman or a Black woman with money makes her too nervous to count properly.
I will never go back to Slate. I will also never promote any events held there. If you had a similar experience at Slate NY, tweet them at @SlateNY or @TheLureGroup, comment on their Facebook page, or email them at info@slate-ny.com. Let your voice be heard!
Enough Said for me. Looks like I wont be going their either. the place is always empty so it must not going to be open much longer. what you should have done is walked out before they brought your food and said you canceled your order.
First I’d like to commend you and your group for continuing to offer SLATE NY your business after they asked you for credit cards before even placing your order and you established that you were paying cash from the beginning. Although it is odd that they asked you how you were paying before ordering, maybe they were low on change or the credit card machines were not working,but none the less they could’ve gave you an explaination as to why they questioning how you were paying. I wish I was there, because I would’ve gave them the attitude and reaction they were expecting from your “crew.” Hats off to you and your friends again, you took the right approach and maintained a Martin Luther King Jr. attitude, my ass would’ve been Huey P. Newton out that bitch and would not have thought twice about remodeling their establishment.
I had an experience with them in regards to booking the venue for an event…. they gave me the run around i went there the same day to speak to the manager face to face….and same BS…they told me they were booked for the holidays… you know I went the day I was suppose to have the event and guess what…. NO ONE WAS THERE…. they have issues and like you i wouldn’t support them neither but then again not many due based on the lack of customers and clientele they do not have at all…place stays empty
Slate is a piece of garbage and has been so for years, ever since they decided they were a “lounge/club” a few years ago (Translation: We wanna do bottle service because everyone else does!). I’ll never forget being denied entry because I had on sneakers. Slate, you’re a pool hall, nothing more, and don’t you ever forget it.
I’m glad you handled it this way. What is most important though is really never returning. I don’t want an apology from them. I don’t want anyone to smooth things over. I don’t want our friends and family to give them our money when there are other venues owned and operated by people of color that deserve our patronage and treat us with respect. Slate seems to like the Jersey Shore crowd sprinkled with a few tokens and racially ambiguous people. Let them keep it that way.
-E.R.