Our mission, and what you should and should not expect from us:

1) To foster competitive Scrabble® play. 

      ... our regulars include the highest percentage of the most skilled

      regular club attendees in NYC.

      ... all are welcome, we also have plenty of players at various lower

      levels of skill.  Our players range from teenagers to octogenarians;

      from writers to chefs to dog-walkers.  We also let in braggarts and

      blowhards, but we don't let them out without giving them their

      comeuppance.

      ... it's not a social club that also plays Scrabble®, it's a Scrabble®

      club that occasionally also fosters socialization outside of the club.

      ... you come to us because you're looking for a stimulating challenge,

      a genuine battle of wits, as you've run out of that among your

      relatives, friends and neighbors.

      ... we're not a substitute for something missing in your life, tho many

      do view competing at Scrabble® as a form of therapy; we're the focal

      point of something you already had at least a minor obsession with.

      ... we're not going to take it easy on you just because you're a

      "beginner" -- lots of players are developing their skills online these

      days before they ever come in for face-to-face play, so we can no

      longer make assumptions that you're unskilled just because we've

      never seen you before.  But if you are relatively unskilled, we hope

      you're mature enough to take a beating or several and view getting

      your revenge as an intellectual challenge, and we will gladly show

      you a few ideas to help you improve quickly.

2) To increase your awareness of the vastity of language, the variation

in North American usage of English, and the amount of international

culture it now absorbs. 

      ... your degree in English doesn't mean you know the only way to

      use English, and more words than the average bear; our dictionary

      is THE dictionary, arguing with it is tiresome and pointless.  Our

      dog-walker will defeat a surprisingly high percentage of English

      professors and scriptwriters, and he’s not even Hank Azaria.

3) To increase your understanding of how to mathematically optimize

the application of your vocabulary and spelling skills in conjunction

with values of the letter set and the geometry of the game board.