Zoomers want a wild night on the town they won’t wake up regretting.
Gen Z is drinking alcohol far less than previous generations, a trend that has been holding steady for the past four years, data shows.
Instead, young adults are getting their social fixes at sober-friendly gathering hubs and alcohol-free bars that have been sprouting up throughout the Big Apple in recent years to accommodate what some are saying is a sign of changing times.
“I think our generation is very aware, like a lot of us are activists and I think that awareness influences our drinking habits,” Aedin Weisenberg, 22, told The Post last week as he painted a figurine at Brooklyn Game Knight in Industry City.
“You’d think we drink more with all the stuff we’re hearing about the world constantly! You’d think we want a distraction but I think our phones are distraction enough so we don’t need as much alcohol.”
Weisenberg, along with partner Cameron Cohen, 23, was among 15 people enjoying a Thursday night at the board game hub — which doesn’t serve alcohol to its patrons, though it doesn’t mind if they bring in booze from other bars located in Industry City.
Owner Frank L. Szelwach, 47, notes that customers run the gamut from early twenties to their early fifties, but has noticed that the younger crowds drink far less than their older counterparts.
That’s not to say that Gen Z gamers are totally sober — but could have an overall healthier relationship with alcohol than older Americans.
“When people of the previous generation think of drinking, they think of binge drinking. They think of going to a bar, slamming back 12 drinks and being hammered the next night. They think of the idea of cracking open a six-pack before they go to bed,” said Uriel Daluz, 26, who was one of the few sipping a cocktail at the Sunset Park gaming club.
“One thing I will say: Part of it is a different conceptualization of drinking. I will have a drink or two, but I don’t go out with the intention of drinking,” continued Daluz, who was serving as game master for a session of the role-playing game Path Finder.
The other six players agreed.
“I do drink. When I do, I’ll probably (have), like, one drink,” said Leigh Thompson, 23.
“I think people in my generation are more conscious of their health and don’t see drinking as a social obligation,” said Kathleen Saloma, 24, a social worker from Bay Ridge who was painting at a nearby table. Neither she nor her sister drink alcohol, she said.
Zoomers are drinking far less than previous generations — a trend that has remained steady for four years, new data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows.
The shift is impacting even the youngest Gen Zers, with teenagers choosing to abstain from substance abuse in what the NIDA called “unprecedented” droves.
Roughly 38% of adults under the age of 35 say they never drink — a 10% surge compared to two decades ago, according to a 2023 Gallup survey.
Younger adults are also less likely to have even just one drink per week compared to other age cohorts.
On the other hand, drinking has surged among adults aged 55 and older, going from 49% to 59% over the span of 20 years.
Researchers have not pinned down an overwhelming cause for the decrease in alcohol consumption but noted that the drop seemingly sprouted during the pandemic.
Rachel Friend, 28, was one of many who gave up alcohol during the pandemic after what she views as overindulging.
“I was home with nothing better to do. After COVID-19 dissolved, I stopped drinking,” Friend, an emergency medicine doctor told The Post Wednesday at High and Dry, a late-night coffee and kombucha bar in Bushwick that mimics the social aspect of bars, but minus the booze.
“The coolest people come here, doctors, lawyers, people in the entertainment industry, and everyone talks to each other… there is no one who will not engage,” said Friend.
Co-owner Garret Peterson, 42, opened the shop to offer people a sense of “functionable euphoria” and a place to hang out late at night without the social pressures of alcohol.
“People come in, and they’re shocked that people are in here having fun without alcohol, and it makes me very happy to see that,” said Peterson.
“When I was 20 — s–t — if you didn’t drink, no one was trying to hang out with you.”
The shop is packed on weekends, and is usually full of younger people, noted Daniel Stettner, 33, another of High and Dry’s three co-owners.
Patron Matt Jahnke, 29, who works as a teacher, said his interest in drinking has waned in recent years. He simply doesn’t like hangovers, he told The Post.
“I definitely see Gen Z drinking less. And I think that‘s great. They need as much energy and intelligence as they can get to find their way through this world and a place in the workforce,” said Breandan, 30, a co-owner of Here and Now NYC, a temporarily closed sober bar in the East Village that served Kava, a natural drug billed at proving the same sensations as alcohol without the side effects.
“I think Gen Z found out like a lot of people — but earlier in life — that alcohol just dulls your senses.”
At neighboring Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge, dancer Tessa Russ was enjoying a mocktail called the “The Roaring Hell, a zesty herbal delight with a splash of hot spice.”
“I have taken a back seat to drinking for the past three-ish months,” Russ, 25, tells the Post, adding that she feels a lot better “physically and mentally” when she puts down the bottle.
“Coming out of [college], I feel like people try to make the shift into the adult world, maybe some people don’t know how to, but I feel like in your mid-twenties is when you come back to yourself and decide what’s important,” she continued.
Her friend Beckett Asselin, 24, never drinks and has been hunting for social alternatives without booze.
“What can you do in the city that’s outside of drinking? That’s kind of tough. I feel like a lot of times when you’re meeting with friends, it’s surrounded by drinking, and it’s not always what you wanna do,” Asselin said.
Though she declined to share her reason for pursuing sobriety, Asselin noted, “I do know a lot of people who take breaks for themselves, like they have mental health going on, and then that’s one of the first things they will cut out, alcohol, to re-center themselves.
“And I feel like people are more open about discussing their experiences on drinking these days, and are not normalizing alcohol as much. And those conversations are definitely more prevalent now.”
A rise in sober curiosity could be linked to a boom in the gaming community, according to a group of young women enjoying a game of “Let’s Get Deep” at Park Slope’s Sip & Play. The Brooklyn spot was the only one with any availability on a cold Thursday night.
Though all 18, the group noted they had no interest in trying alcohol.
“My family are big drinkers … but I feel like I have better priorities,” said Mari Moody.
“Board games are really fun. There are tabletop games that you use your imagination with, there are strategy games, there are party games — you have a little something for everyone, and what their strengths are. So I feel like the board game base is growing lately. And I think that’s a wonderful thing.”
