What If the Best Social Club in New York Didn’t Revolve Around Alcohol?

What if the city’s most inspiring social club wasn’t built around cocktails, but around connection?

That’s the idea behind The Maze, an alcohol-free members club in New York City designed to foster meaningful conversations, collaboration, and a true sense of community. On the latest episode of the GCUC Podcast, Justin Gurland, Founder and CEO of The Maze, joins GCUC Founder Liz Elam to rethink how adults gather, connect, and belong.

A New Vision for Adult Social Spaces

Justin’s journey to creating The Maze began long before the club opened its doors. With nearly two decades of sobriety and a career in behavioral health, he noticed a gap: the city was full of places to meet over drinks, but almost none where connection, not alcohol, was the focus. At the same time, a growing number of people were questioning their relationship with alcohol for wellness, lifestyle, or recovery reasons.

So he decided to build the space that didn’t exist.

Designing for Connection, Not Consumption

The Maze isn’t just a place to hang out, it’s a hospitality-driven social club where professionals, creatives, and entrepreneurs can meet, collaborate, and form real relationships. Its design blends wellness, programming, and intentional community-building to create an environment where human connection comes first.

In their conversation, Justin and Liz explore the rise of the alcohol-free and sober-curious movement, and why it’s gaining momentum now. But they also dive into a bigger challenge facing cities everywhere: loneliness. Even in a city as vibrant as New York, people struggle to find spaces where they can truly belong. Thoughtful community design, they argue, is the antidote.

Lessons for Community Operators

Justin shares how rebuilding social networks can dramatically improve wellbeing, and why spaces that encourage authentic interaction are more critical than ever. They also touch on hospitality, programming, and what coworking operators can learn from the next generation of membership clubs. From daily meditation routines to those sudden “aha” moments when ideas click into place, this episode is a case study in what happens when purpose, timing, and community align.

Why This Matters

If you’re thinking about the future of community, wellness, and hospitality-driven spaces, there’s a lot to unpack here. Justin and Liz discuss:

• Why alcohol-free social spaces are booming

• How The Maze is tackling loneliness in New York City

• Lessons for coworking operators from the world of social clubs

• The surprising scale and influence of the sober-curious movement

• How intentional design can foster deeper connections

Whether you’re designing a membership club, a coworking space, or just thinking about how people belong in cities, this conversation offers insight into a new era of social spaces where people, and relationships, come first.

Learn more about The Maze

https://www.themazenyc.com/

Connect with Justin Gurland 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingurland/

Learn more about GCUC & get your tickets for GCUC North America:
https://na.gcuc.co/

Watch the GCUC Podcast on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@GCUCPodcast/videos