In the greatest political upheaval this town has seen since Kathy Hochul pushed congestion pricing out of a tower window to appease her New Jerseyan overlords, eight great houses of New York City have declared fealty to one of two sides of House of the Dragon ’s upcoming civil war , raising their banners for #TeamGreen (Alicent Hightower and King Aegon II ) or #TeamBlack (King Viserys I’s daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen). Even the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges have declared their allegiance to opposing dragon queens. In real life, restaurants and bars are running House of the Dragon pop-up promotions featuring show-branded menu items with #TeamGreen or #TeamBlack packaging and décor June 10–16.
The houses waging war are Leon’s Bagels, Murray’s Bagels, John’s of Bleeker, Roberta’s, Ray’s, The Flower Shop, Mile End Deli, and Gray’s Papaya. They span the kingdom from Bushwick to the Upper West Side. A kingdom pulled violently atwain! Even though I didn’t watch the first season of HOTD , it seems like one must pick sides in pop-culture wars if one wants to banter about anything ( Barbie or Oppenheimer , Drake or Kendrick, Art or Patrick).
But I couldn’t choose a side on vibes alone. To properly pledge allegiance and therefore have a stake in the next two months of Slack chatter, I embarked on a journey to learn all I could about each side’s fundamental essence, policies, personality, and worthiness for the throne. Not by reading recaps — or, God forbid, .