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Money no object as Giants fans prepare to party

By Justin Rocket Silverman, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | jsilverman@am-ny.com

January 30, 2008

When it comes to celebrating their home team's first shot at the NFL championship in seven years, many New Yorkers are lacking neither money nor creativity.

Among the decorations for one Sunday Giants celebration is a 4-foot tall ice sculpture crafted to look just like the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy.

"Sports audiences are very physical and get very excited," said Shintaro Okamoto, the founder of Okamoto Studio in Long Island City, who is making the ice sculpture. "We want to make sure our Super Bowl sculptures are very strong and durable."

Okamoto said he is also fielding inquires from New York "hedge fund people and bankers" looking to spend upwards of $750 on ice sculptures in the shape of a Giants helmet for their private loft parties.

Eat Drink & Be Merry, a company that rents out its 10 private party rooms scattered throughout Manhattan bars, has almost sold out for Sunday. For about $75 per person, with a 40-person minimum, football fans can gather with their friends to watch the game on a large flat-screen TV as they take advantage of an open bar and snack on a buffet.

Quality televisions are the centerpiece for many New Yorkers throwing their own Super Bowl parties. Videographer Richard Blakeley said it was his own 42-inch high-definition screen that inspired him to host a party Sunday for about 30 guests in his Prospect Park South apartment.

"It's so much better than watching the game in a bar because you don't have to pay for drinks and at home you can get sloppy drunk," said Blakeley, 28.

He also said he was forgoing the Giants themed plates and cups, explaining, "I'm too chic for that kind of stuff."

While stores like Party City in Brooklyn report brisk sales of Giants tableware, as well as merchandise like Giants yard signs, ice buckets and even doormats, don't expect to see them on display at the city's more high-brow celebrations.

At those parties, guests are still more likely to dine using metal utensils and drink from glasses rather than use Giants-themed paper cups and plastic forks, said Diane Rohan, "... said Diane Rohan, CEO of a party planning company called the Main Event.

She said she is stocking Super Bowl parties with Giants paraphernalia "for kitsch value only."