The Invading Hordes

Krikor Daglian
March 28, 2001

Bridge and Tunnel. Few other adjectives, perhaps except "Disney's", can so quickly make the once hip nightlife hotspot totally lame. For those not familiar with the term, it's used to describe people from the New York City suburbs-- New Jersey and Long Island -- who invade the city on the weekends to partake in the entertainment NY has to offer. Apparently, it's also used in cities like San Francisco to describe the invading hordes from 'East Bay' and other neighboring areas. If you know anything about people who live in the city proper, especially one as metrocentric as New York, you might also ascertain that it is a derogatory nickname, one that is used with disdain, whether it be for a bar or club that is overrun with "B&T"'s, a car that is obviously from outside NYC (Jersey plates being the primary giveaway), or just the person annoying the Manhattanite. Supposedly, the term was first coined to describe the throngs of out-of-towners who came to disco palace Studio 54 in the late 70s, trying to get past the club's famed velvet ropes.

What's tricky, though, is defining exactly what a B&T is beyond geographic origin. All snideness aside, not every person from Jersey or Long Island can be a B&T. Admittedly, I'm not the best person to figure this out. I would not consider myself part of the Bridge and Tunnel crowd, but then, it's not so clear cut. Although I was born in New York City, I grew up in New Jersey; I live in NYC, but I still have a New Jersey drivers license (which I frequently have to shamefully show when I go out on the weekends - damn this eternal youth!) I frequently drive over the George Washington Bridge and through the tunnels, yet I don't have EZ-Pass (which may just be more of a sign of my lack of IQ than my identity as a B & T).

Still, I am determined to figure this out despite my handicaps. I asked a friend the other day to help me figure it out, and it I don't think we came to an absolute conclusion. The main upshot seemed to be that, in a way, it's something you just understand or don't, like jazz or Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp.

At the very least, I can offer a few stereotypes about the B&T crowd. They tend to be young and affluent kids from the suburbs. They tend to seek out the hot spots in NY by reading things like Time Out or other such similar means, and then go ahead and make the cool bar or club completely uncool by their presence. At a club, they'll stand around instead of dancing. They'll rent SUV limos.

Alas, I'm too inarticulate and uninformed to come up with a more exact definition of the Bridge and Tunnel crowd. Ironically, B&T's are despised for their recklessness in a city where lack of caring for other's regard is supposed to be a defining trait of citizenship. In the end, I'm not sure how much better true NY'ers, who sneer at everybody not as "cool" as them, are than the Bridge and Tunnel crowd. Still, it's worth untangling this struggle a bit further, and so look for a follow up or two as I attempt to shed more light on this class war of sorts, even if it means going to Bleecker Street on a Friday night.