What it's like inside Rage Room Long Island in Selden
Have you ever wished you could hurl a wineglass against a wall in a melodramatic gesture? Been so angry at something on your TV that you would love to take a sledgehammer and shatter the screen? Fantasized about grabbing a crowbar and smashing that omnipresent, constantly dinging smartphone?
Soon you’ll be able to do all those things in a controlled setting when Rage Room Long Island opens its doors on March 3.
“I think it’s a good way to release energy,” says Kaitlin MacDowell, 28, a nurse practitioner from Mount Sinai, who chose a golf club as her item during a recent test drive before the opening. “It’s a good way to do it, in a safe environment with friends, blowing off steam.”
Here are six things to know about the new entertainment venue, located in a Selden strip mall:
When you arrive at Rage Room, you will be given a full-body, hazmat team-like onesie that zips on over your clothing, a pair of yellow-and-black protective gloves, and a motorcycle-like helmet with anti-fog goggles and mouth guard; you must wear closed shoes. While getting ready, TV screens will offer insight about rage. For instance, “Rage is a natural response to a perceived threat or injustice” or “Rage can be a source of empowerment and inspiration.”
You’ll proceed to a touch screen and choose your preferred item — a crowbar, sledgehammer, baseball bat, golf club or pipe wrench. A chrome robot will hand you your choice. “I think most people will have fun with the bats because it’s just classic,” predicts owner Michael Hellmann. “But I like the pipe wrench.”
Your group of up to four people will proceed to one of the three rage rooms, which is about the size of a household garage. Select your preferred music, choose the lighting that appeals to you — red, or blue, or glow, for instance — and agree on a mission. Current choices include Technology Takeover, City Escape, Fight Back or Pain is Temporary. A Disney World-like screen descends from the ceiling and instructs the group on its task, then counts down for you to begin destruction.
Smash flat-screen TVs, microwaves, printers, computers, lamps, picture frames, fans, garden gnomes and more. Feel free to throw things against the wall. “Everyone who comes in gets a bucket of dishes,” Hellmann says. Those can include drinking glasses and smartphones that can be hurled against a steel-like wall, sending shards flying. “There’s definitely a timidness at first. It feels like you shouldn’t be doing that,” MacDowell says. But then, you get an adrenaline rush, she says, and start whacking away. “It’s a good workout.” Says her friend, Ashley Frey, 27, a receptionist from Hauppauge who chose to use a baseball bat: “I couldn’t break the TV. I’m too weak.” Her frustration just fueled her further, she jokes. “It just made me break more things. It’s a good time.”
Rage Room has a room big enough for six people and a party room with tables; it will be offering pizza and other party food. It’s selling merchandise as well — such as a miniature squishy sledgehammer called a “Stress Mallet,” Rage Room water bottles and Rage Room T-shirts.
Rage Room Long Island has a Rage Room van that picks up discarded items at curbs for use. “We literally get it from the street,” Hellmann says. Hellmann will also have the van pick up items from people who wish to donate old TVs and other electronic waste or household items. Email donate@rageroomli.com for more information.
Have you ever wished you could hurl a wineglass against a wall in a melodramatic gesture? Been so angry at something on your TV that you would love to take a sledgehammer and shatter the screen? Fantasized about grabbing a crowbar and smashing that omnipresent, constantly dinging smartphone?
Soon you’ll be able to do all those things in a controlled setting when Rage Room Long Island opens its doors on March 3.
“I think it’s a good way to release energy,” says Kaitlin MacDowell, 28, a nurse practitioner from Mount Sinai, who chose a golf club as her item during a recent test drive before the opening. “It’s a good way to do it, in a safe environment with friends, blowing off steam.”
Here are six things to know about the new entertainment venue, located in a Selden strip mall:
You’ll suit up.
When you arrive at Rage Room, you will be given a full-body, hazmat team-like onesie that zips on over your clothing, a pair of yellow-and-black protective gloves, and a motorcycle-like helmet with anti-fog goggles and mouth guard; you must wear closed shoes. While getting ready, TV screens will offer insight about rage. For instance, “Rage is a natural response to a perceived threat or injustice” or “Rage can be a source of empowerment and inspiration.”
A robot will hand you your weapon.
A robot arm hands over a sledgehammer to be used at Rage Room Long Island, where participants can take their rage out on ordinary household items. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
You’ll proceed to a touch screen and choose your preferred item — a crowbar, sledgehammer, baseball bat, golf club or pipe wrench. A chrome robot will hand you your choice. “I think most people will have fun with the bats because it’s just classic,” predicts owner Michael Hellmann. “But I like the pipe wrench.”
You’ll decide on a mission.
Your group of up to four people will proceed to one of the three rage rooms, which is about the size of a household garage. Select your preferred music, choose the lighting that appeals to you — red, or blue, or glow, for instance — and agree on a mission. Current choices include Technology Takeover, City Escape, Fight Back or Pain is Temporary. A Disney World-like screen descends from the ceiling and instructs the group on its task, then counts down for you to begin destruction.
Rage away.
Smash flat-screen TVs, microwaves, printers, computers, lamps, picture frames, fans, garden gnomes and more. Feel free to throw things against the wall. “Everyone who comes in gets a bucket of dishes,” Hellmann says. Those can include drinking glasses and smartphones that can be hurled against a steel-like wall, sending shards flying. “There’s definitely a timidness at first. It feels like you shouldn’t be doing that,” MacDowell says. But then, you get an adrenaline rush, she says, and start whacking away. “It’s a good workout.” Says her friend, Ashley Frey, 27, a receptionist from Hauppauge who chose to use a baseball bat: “I couldn’t break the TV. I’m too weak.” Her frustration just fueled her further, she jokes. “It just made me break more things. It’s a good time.”
Parties can be booked.
Rage Room has a room big enough for six people and a party room with tables; it will be offering pizza and other party food. It’s selling merchandise as well — such as a miniature squishy sledgehammer called a “Stress Mallet,” Rage Room water bottles and Rage Room T-shirts.
Donations are welcomed.
Rage Room Long Island has a Rage Room van that picks up discarded items at curbs for use. “We literally get it from the street,” Hellmann says. Hellmann will also have the van pick up items from people who wish to donate old TVs and other electronic waste or household items. Email donate@rageroomli.com for more information.
Rage Room Long Island
WHEN | WHERE 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday, beginning March 3; 978 Middle Country Rd., Selden
COST $40 to $60 depending on time spent and number of people; book online.
AGE 12-plus; under 18 must be accompanied by a parent
INFO 631-880-7772; rageroomli.com
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
