So I recently went to Fire Island for the first time , and while I had a lot of fun (except for the cringy underwear party, what is up with that??), it also made me realize I live in a bubble. For context, I just moved to NYC in early March, and I live in Williamsburg. I've already made a few gay friends that I hang out with pretty regularly, but they all live in Bushwick/Ridgewood. I work remotely and I actually don't go into Manhattan socially that often; not actively avoiding it, this is just where my friends live. This means I haven't had much exposure to the "Hell's Kitchen gays" that I see referenced on this thread.

Fire Island was fun, but it was kinda sold to me as a gay summer camp where you make lots of friends, but that wasn't the really the vibe. It felt a bit cliquey and Mean Girls-y, and a lot of people seem to care a lot about status. Lots of people asked me what I do and where I live in a way that made feel like I was being "sized up", like they were deciding if I was worth their time. Idk, I expected the vibe to be friendlier and more open? Also outside of our house, I saw basically no people of color. I personally fall into the relatively fit white guy archetype so I guess I blend right in, but the lack of diversity was definitely noticeable compared to Brooklyn.

To reiterate I did end up having fun. The guys in my house were AMAZING (it's totally random they had an opening at the last minute and I got to go), I hooked up with some cuties and enjoyed relaxing by the pool/beach, but I definitely felt like the vibes were off. Is my experience typical? Again, I'm very new to the city so excuse my naivete!!