#Woman hosts pandemic parties in tricked-out plastic pods

Theresa Smythe figured out a fun — and safe — way to keep the party rolling despite lockdown orders and club closures: a village of 6-foot-tall plastic pods.

After spending months cooped up in her apartment, the Hamilton Heights resident had the bright idea to use the clear, bubble-like enclosures as individual party tents.

“I was talking with my husband about how I wanted to build something outside so my friends and I could all sit together, but still be socially distant,” said Smythe, 49. “It was almost like Google heard me, because a few minutes later, this pod from Dick’s Sporting Goods popped onto my laptop screen.

“I was like, ‘Bingo! I’m going to re-create my living room in the pods,’” the child care assistant recalled. “I initially ordered three of them for $99 each and put them out on my block.”

Smythe tricked each tent out with amenities, including a director’s chair, folding table, water dispenser, LED lights, a fan, portable radio and a garbage can, and lined the floor with a grass tarp.

“I invited my ­co-workers for some girl time, and we watched music videos and movies on the side of a building from a projector I brought,” she said of her first pod party on 149th Street and Convent Avenue. “We loved it so much.

“It was so nice to just laugh with everyone again.”

The night was such a hit that she ordered 11 more pods to host an even bigger gathering right before Memorial Day.

Caprice Smythe’s mother, Theresa Smythe, created a pod party using multiple single-person shelters and outfitting them with beach chairs, fans, snacks, drinks, toys and even painting so that her family and friends could hang out together outside on the sidewalk during the outbreak of COVID-19.

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Caprice Smythe, 26, in a pod with nachos, a painting set, a beverage in a watermelon bottle and a fan.

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Darlene Jones, 49, and her dog, Juicy, in their pod with snacks and beverages for both.

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Kane Cooper, 8, hangs out in his pod.

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Diann Sloane, 61, paints in her pod.

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Ashley Dacres, 15, watches videos on her phone in her pod.

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Theresa Smythe, 49, hands out supplies.

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Kane Cooper, 8, left and Cody Smythe, 6, right, hang out in their pods.

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“I lined seven pods on each side of the block so my family and friends could all talk to each other,” she said. “The popcorn and ice machine were also set up in their own separate pods.”

Smythe even ordered her own wearable “walking pod” so that she could bring her guests a feast of jerk chicken, mac ‘n’ cheese, potato salad, coleslaw, lemonade and cheesecake.

“I could serve people food through the windows without passing germs,” she said. And while the pods are self-contained, “You can hear each other real clear even when they’re zipped up, or you can zip the windows down and wear masks to talk.”

Last weekend, she took a few of the pods to Domino Park in Brooklyn for another girls’ night — and ended up drawing a crowd of strangers.

“Everyone was so amazed, they surrounded our tents,” Smythe said. “We met some good people and it was good vibes.”

Now, she’s planning to step it up even more with another big bash at the park on June 28: Smythe is adding mini AC units to the pods.

“Some might look at it as crazy,” she said. “But as long as it’s safe and making people happy, I’ll keep doing it.”

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