Can You Meet Women in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District?

Yes, and the two neighborhoods suit different hours. Chelsea works by day, with the High Line and the Hudson River Park, where people walk and sit on purpose. The Meatpacking District is known for its clubs and stylish restaurants, and it works at night, with more cost and more conditions. Plan the day and the night separately.

a dating coach has lived in Chelsea, and he stays there or on the Lower East Side when he visits New York. His reason is logistics, and it is worth knowing.

The High Line is a park built on an old rail line above the street, run by the nonprofit Friends of the High Line. People walk it slowly and stop to look at the view, which is the condition you want. Its hours change by season, so check the page before you plan around it.

It also has rules that shape how you approach. It bans bicycles, skateboards and blocking entrances or paths. In practice, a conversation should happen off to one side, never in the middle of the walkway. A man standing in the way of a stream of walkers is a nuisance to everyone, including the woman you are talking to.

Hudson River Park's Chelsea section runs from West 17th to West 34th Street. A woman sitting on the waterfront has time and has come outside on purpose. My park reasoning applies as much here as in any park: "If someone's out in a park, they've come out to be among people."

Look for a woman who is sitting, reading or watching the water. Stand a few feet away and say hello at a normal volume:

"Hi, I saw you out here and had to come say hello. I am Sam."

If she turns toward you, ask about what she is reading or how often she comes here. If she gives a short answer, say "enjoy it" and leave.

The Meatpacking District is known for its clubs and stylish restaurants. The rooms are more polished and the weekends are busier. coach divides New York nightlife into three kinds of room: general admission bars, semi-exclusive rooms and high-end clubs. The Meatpacking District leans toward the upper two.

He says high-end clubs are hard to get into and heavy on bottle service, so there is less mingling. Semi-exclusive rooms are his personal favorite. They may give a man alone some trouble at the door, which is also what keeps the ratio better inside. Whichever you try, you should know before you go whether there is a door and what it costs you.

A few honest points:

• Check the door first. If a room is hard to enter, you can lose an hour before you speak to anyone.
• Do not rely on one room. Venues turn over fast, but the categories stay the same, so judge a place by its type, not its name.
• Try an easier room. If the Meatpacking District is not working, a general admission bar elsewhere is a few minutes away.

coach also suggests staying out late. As the night goes on, the crowd thins, and the women left are often no longer tied to friends who went home.

Chelsea and the Meatpacking District are in Lower Manhattan, which is the area coach recommends for dating. He says it is easy to get women to come to Lower Manhattan and hard to get them out to the outer boroughs, and he says he would pay a premium to live there because the logistics matter so much. A woman you meet here is close to bars, cafes and restaurants, so an instant date is simple. My description: wherever you are, there is a coffee shop, a bar, an ice cream place and a restaurant within a couple of blocks.

Say "enjoy your night" and go. coach notes that in New York, a conversation that goes badly is soon forgotten and you will probably never see her again.

A polished room with a door, a crowd and an audience is where many men lock up. On a Cold Approach Bootcamp, a coach stands beside you in the field and gives feedback after every set. Each training day has two four-hour blocks, daygame and night game mixed to suit you, with no skill floor. The Bootcamp runs in New York and Miami.