Drinking Liberally celebrated its sixth anniversary with 150 guests Saturday evening in an old firehouse in Chinatown. The party was assembled to honor three people, including Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, bloggers Baratunde Thurston and Cheryl Contee for Jack and Jill Politics and Karl Frisch for Media Matters, for their work in liberal public policy and media.

The soiree had the feel of a middle school dance, set in a sweltering garage with Christmas lights strewn around poles and a combination of indie rock and Motown lingering out of the speakers. The garage had bright graffiti on the walls and an old foosball table in the corner. Guests placed empty Magic Hat beer bottles on plastic card tables as a lone disco ball spun slowly above the crowd in the beginning of the program.

The Jack and Jill Politics blog was awarded for exposing a “black bourgeoisie view on politics.” Thurston, cofounder of the blog, spoke about his experience appearing on CNN and sitting in the green room with former Bush White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. “Do I shake his hand,” he wondered, “or kick him in the nuts?” 

To answer the question, Thurston asked himself everyone’s favorite liberal axiom: “W.W.O.D. What would Obama do?”

Stringer gave a passionate talk about his concern about the lack of healthy food choices available in blighted neighborhoods, prompting cheers of “run for mayor!” His view on food policy sparked conversation within the crowd.

“It makes you wonder why there’s a liquor store on every corner and you can’t buy an apple in some neighborhoods,” attendee Erin Patten commented.

Honoree Frisch also remembered a time where more apples and less liquor might have been prudent. Calling himself a “recovering Republican,” he shrugged. “Everyone experiments in college.”