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A Look Back At The Gay Nightlife

The Lost World

In honor of gay history month, we look back at the bars and clubs of nightlife past.

There is nothing more tired than saying, “New York nightlife is over. It was so much better back in the day.” Whatevs. Though we may not have been born when some of these places were jumping, it’s good to know there have always been gay bars here and always will be. So join us for a tour of the favorite haunts of our gay forefathers (including some, like the Roxy, where we all shook our asses) and see the legacy they left behind. _______________________________________________________________________________________ The Slide 157 Bleecker St (btwn Thompson/Sullivan) In a basement in the heart of Greenwich Village, pansies (effeminate men) could be seen saddling up to the more butch Italian “trade” that earned this former brothel-turned-bar—one of the first documented gay bars in the city—the title “Wickedest Place in New York” in the 1890s. What’s there today: Kenny’s Castaways—an NYU dive popular since the late ’60s that once saw the New York Dolls take the stage. Also in the neighborhood: “Homosexualists” Merce Cunningham, Allen Ginsberg and Gore Vidal, among others, frequented the bohemian Mecca San Remo Café (93 MacDougal St). Legacy: The Cock (29 Second Ave) still offers notorious and scandalized cruising. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Club 181 181 Second Ave (@ 12th St) One of the most famous “fag joints” of the ’40s, this elegant club helped popularize male and female vaudeville drag “floor shows,” which had become a sensation all over town. Its Mafia ownership kept the homosexuals safe after being tossed back on the street following the repeal of Prohibition and the end to communal discontent. What’s there today: Village East Cinema Also in the neighborhood: If you wanted to make it big in drag you had to perform at Club 82 (82 E Fourth St) which took over for 181 when it was shuttered in 1952, and was known to attract a fun-seeking celebrity or two. The club eventually housed the gay sex club the Bijou Theater. Legacy: Drag dinner shows are now the fancy of bachelorette parties at Lucky Cheng’s (24 First Ave) and Lips (2 Bank St). _______________________________________________________________________________________ The Stonewall Inn 53 Christopher St (btwn Seventh Ave So/Waverly Pl) When it opened in 1967, this former stable house was the largest gay establishment in the city, known for its dancing, racial diversity and “bleached-out skinny faggots wiggling their much-used asses,” according to the 1968 Homosexual Handbook. In late June 1969, a riot against the police following a raid opened the floodgates to the gay civil rights movement. What’s there today: The newly renovated gay-owned Stonewall Inn. Also in the neighborhood: Julius (159 W 10th St), which still serves the same juicy burgers it did in the ’60s, and held the famous pre-Stonewall “sip in” by the Mattachine Society to draw attention to city-wide homosexual discrimination. Legacy: After stints as a shoe store and bagel shop, a renovated Stonewall Inn opened in 2007 where the original stood. Julius is still operating as usual and neighborhood hangouts like The Monster (80 Grove St) retain the community pride and friendliness of the ’60s underground culture. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse 99 Wooster St (btwn Spring/Prince) Born in the activist-centered wake of the Stonewall riots and in a push to end gay nightlife’s dependency on the Mafia, the GAA’s headquarters in this old SoHo firehouse held fundraising dances that were some of the first gay-owned and operated parties in the city until the building was destroyed by arson in 1974. What’s there today: Peter Blum Art Gallery Also in the neighborhood: the post-Stonewall Gay Liberation Front regularly held gay-run dances as well, and gay men sought each other’s company in privately owned bathhouses like The Continental Baths (230 W 74th St), where legends like Bette Midler famously first began their singing careers. Legacy: The LGBT Community Center (208 W 13th St), which celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year, continues to throw bi-monthly fundraising dances called Dance:208. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Mineshaft 835 Washington St (@ Little W 12th St) New York’s notorious S&M club Mineshaft was the epicenter of gay fetishism and gave rise to the leather community in the pre-AIDS era of the late ’70s and early ’80s. The club was the first to be closed in 1985 after the city enacted new laws to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. What’s there today: Highline Thai Restaurant & Bar Also in the neighborhood: The dangerous industrial streets of the old Meatpacking District became the birthplace of the “alternative” members-only scene in the late ’70s and ’80s with bars like Ramrod (394 West St), Tool Box (507 West St), International Stud (117 Perry St) and Exile (491 West St), in addition to “The Trucks”—abandoned semi-trailers used for public sex. Legacy: While the neighborhood has traded the tyrannies for the trendies, The Eagle (554 W 28th St), descended from a ’30s longshoreman’s pub on 11th and 21st, retains fetishized fun just slightly further uptown. _______________________________________________________________________________________ G.G. Barnum’s Room 128 W 45th St (btwn Sixth/Seventh Aves) Housed in the same space as The Peppermint Lounge, the ’60s club that popularized the dance phenomenon “the Twist” and attracted acts like the Beatles, this was the gay answer to the over-the-top antics of its legendary neighbor Studio 54. G.G.’s featured go-go boys on trapezes high above a roller disco dance floor populated nightly with drag queens and young gay men. What’s there today: The Night Hotel Also in the neighborhood: Obviously, nightlife of the time was led by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager’s Studio 54 (254 W 54th St) where gay antics were integrated into mainstream style. Bathhouses like The Barracks (227 W 42nd St), gay theaters like Adonis Theater (839 Eighth Ave) and strip clubs like The Gaiety Theater (201 West 46th St) also populated the seedy and heavily gay area around Times Square. Legacy: The freaks behind mr. Black (27 W 24th St), while short of trapezes, know how to draw a crowd with go-go antics and plenty of disco flare while the Disney-fication of Times Square has created the professional clean and sophisticated gayborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Limelight 47 W 20th St (@ Sixth Ave) Peter Gatien turned an abandoned church on Sixth Ave into a nightlife destination. While not a gay club, the late-’80s/early-’90s industrial techno scene and its world attracted party promoter Michael Alig and his crowd of Club Kids like Richie Rich, Kenny Kenny, Amanda Lepore and Sophia Lamar, who pushed the boundaries of sexuality by promoting a new arrogant and flamboyant gay image to the masses. What’s there today: Avalon Nightclub (currently closed) Also in the neighborhood: The post-disco ’80s begot the House-crazed ’90s and in the midst of it all, several clubs mixed sexual preferences, fashion and music at oversized venues like Twilo (530 W 27th St), Tunnel (269 11th Ave), and Palladium (126 E 14th St). Legacy: Many of the famous DJs of the time—including Junior Vasquez and Danny Tenaglia—still play at the last of the dance-oriented clubs left including Cielo (18 Little W 12th St) and Pacha (618 W 46th St). _______________________________________________________________________________________ The Roxy 515 W 18th St (btwn 10th Ave/West St) In the early ’90s John Blair latched on to the growing “Chelsea Boy” phenomenon and revamped the drag crowd of Chip Duckett, Larry Tee and Suzanne Bartsch’s popular gay Saturday night into a House music and shirtless dancing cornerstone of mid-to-late ’90s gay nightlife up until its shuttering in March of 2007. What’s there today: Planned luxury condos Also in the neighborhood: The muscled gay male in the post-AIDS era dominated the New York landscape in a collection of new, more sophisticated and expensive Chelsea establishments like Blair’s chic XL Lounge (357 W 16th St) and the more masculine styled Champs (17 W 19th). Legacy: Chelsea still serves as an epicenter for gay nightlife with the continued popularity of Barracuda (275 W 22nd St), g Lounge (225 W 19th St) and Splash (50 W 17th St) (where John Blair has set up shop) even as they revamp their image and the neighborhood diversifies. _______________________________________________________________________________________

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