I've had a number of requests to expand the NYC Knitters Ring beyond the 5 boroughs into outlying areas, and have struggled to create a rule that would keep it NYC-focused (rather than tri-state area focused).
Following are the possibilities I came up with:
If you live in the 5 boroughs or...
(1) see the Manhattan skyline clearly from the roof of your apartment building
(2) the shop you consider to be your LYS is in NYC and you live within 30 minutes of it
(3) (the "reasonableness" test, as we say in law school) I mean, in the end, the best thing might be for you to make the call - if you reasonably think you spend enough time in the city and consider yourself truly an NYC knitter, you should join the ring.
A word about why this is even a question: my reason for creating this ring was to facilitate a community of knitters with a common base in the real world. I can read your blog, for instance, and say, hey, I walked by that place just yesterday or yeah, I should totally take the subway up there and check that out some afternoon or good lord, I hate the F train too! Hate it! I've lost 5 DPNs there on 5 separate occasions! But I digress. Those connections are most likely to happen in the city, so I started with the idea that the ring should extend to the borders of the 5 boroughs. Others out there share the common base I'm talking about, despite the address on their rent checks, hence the expansion. But it's really the everyday commonality I feel the ring should retain. What to do?
Thoughts? Shall we expand? Shall we use one or all of the suggestions above? Use something else I haven't thought of?
[Note: The author is aware that being in law school has warped her pea-sized brain to the point where questions like these have become complex and jurisprudential. Please deposit any jokes about her condition in the comments section, for they are deserved.]
Posted by jess at October 12, 2005 5:37 PMHa! I love it! Perhaps you just "know it when you see it." Rational basis? Oh, the endless possibilities.
Posted by: megan at October 13, 2005 7:39 AMI'm all for option three, but I can certainly see the need to draw a line. If someone out there considers themsleves a true New Yorker even if they live in Armonk or Newark, then why turn away a friendly knitter?
Posted by: Megann at October 13, 2005 8:44 AMhow about this option: if you work in the city or in a burrough you are eligible. This way, we could include some folk from the outskirts who have a regular routine of at least BEING in the city... which is what sounds like the important part (this may also effect their frequency at NYC LYS's). option one and two are great as well... as for option three, it seems that it may lead to the loss of your community-feeling-goal. either way, its a difficult decision. good luck! of course we'll all back you in whatever you say is the final word!
Posted by: j a r e d at October 13, 2005 10:09 AMSince I work in the city, I'm all for expansion of the circle. :) I understand the need to limit it to people who have some common real-world base, but I do think that those of us who spend so much of our time in the city have plenty in common with those who also sleep here every night. For example, there are at least two LYS I often walk to during my lunch hour, and I've also used lunch time to escape to knit in Tudor City or a 3rd Ave. Starbucks more than once.
So yeah, I'm hoping to join as soon as the expansion criteria are finalized. :)
Posted by: Sneaksleep at October 13, 2005 10:53 AMthanks for undertaking this endeavour -- when i started blogging, i couldn't believe there wasn't a nyc knitter ring already. i like the idea of people who work in the city and something that would include folks in jersey city or other really close spots. but i think you should feel ok about making limits -- because i doubt we'd be allowed into, say, the new england knitters ring.
Posted by: carrie m at October 14, 2005 12:54 AMFunny thing about NYC, it kind of gets into your blood and stays there. It has this amazing pull for people. I grew up in Chelsea, haven't lived anywhere near NYC for 10+ years, and yet, I still consider myself a New Yorker.
Don't worry, I'm not going to ask to be admitted to the ring, but I just had to share my two cents. :)
Posted by: Eva at October 18, 2005 11:12 AM