Gay & Lbian | Lbian & Gay Bars and Events | Time Out New York

Contents:

• THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC
• THE OWNER OF MOTEL 23, A POPULAR NEW YORK GAY BAR, FAC SEXUAL MISNDUCT ALLEGATNS STRETCHG BACK A
• THE 10 BEST NEW YORK CY GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK CY
• THE EAGLE NYCPOPULAR GAY FETISH BAR IN CHELSEANEW YORK CYMENUHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGEON TODAYBARSLBIAN BARSDANCE CLUBSCISE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECULTURESHOPSLGBT+ ATTRACTNSCY GUIGAY TOURSRTRANTSGAY BEACHGAY MAPGAY WEDDGSTHE EAGLE NYC

THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC

Cohen, one of the most proment figur New York’s gay nightlife scene, has long reigned as a gatekeeper for young queer men lookg to attend exclive parti and clubs.

He now fac a range of sexual misnduct allegatns — cludg accatns that he groped or prsured men to have sex or send nu photos, as well as a claim of sexual asslt — om members of that same muny, acrdg to ne people who told NBC News about their experienc over the past 2015, Charl Battersby, then 19, was elated when Cohen offered to troduce him to other gay llege stunts at the weekly parti Cohen hosted at the nightclub Goldbar, Battersby said. ”And 2021, a man who was unr 21 at the time said that Cohen poured him two to three drks at Motel 23, the popular gay bar Cohen owns Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood wh other vtors. This clud five who said that when they were their late teens or early 20s and yearng for a sense of gay muny, Cohen grabbed their genals or buttocks at parti he hosted or at Motel of the ne accers said that bee they were newly out of the closet and didn’t know many queer people when the enunters occurred, they prumed that the cints were normal wh the gay muny, even though they were upset by them at the of Cohen’s accers add that havg accs to New York’s gay bars and parti meant so much to them, pecially for those who were unr 21, that they were willg to put up wh Cohen’s advanc.

THE OWNER OF MOTEL 23, A POPULAR NEW YORK GAY BAR, FAC SEXUAL MISNDUCT ALLEGATNS STRETCHG BACK A

The five men who said Cohen groped them said that while they were dismayed and tried to manver away om him, they did not tell him to stop, bee they didn’t want to lose their nnectn to gay nightlife. It wasn’t jt about experiencg fun nights out wh their iends —  was about the sense of eedom and acceptance they felt when surround by other gay people, some s for the first time their liv, they said. Nearly all said that they did not grasp the gravy of the alleged enunters until months, and some s years, scribed Cohen as “a proud gay man wh no shame about his activy on social media, where he has asked adult men to send him sexual pictur, cludg those of their genals.

Spokpeople for Watson, Prs and Sger cled to ment; an agent for Davis did not rpond to requts for is no ditn that they knew about the allegatns of misnduct agast Cohen and Motel 23 reported by NBC allegatns ept to public viewCohen has hosted gay parti at glamoro New York nightclubs — cludg Goldbar, PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Downtown hotel and Fishbowl at the Dream Midtown hotel — wh reliable crowds of attractive men and star-studd gut lists. Some of the world’s most well-known gay celebri, cludg Brish Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley, actor Neil Patrick Harris and rapper Lil Nas X, have been photographed wh Cohen or ma an appearance at Motel 23. “It was known for him to be an olr man that liked the younger boys, ” said Bra Filter, a star of “RuPl’s Drag Race, ” who has performed New York Cy’s gay bars for over eight years.

Allegatns about Cohen’s behavr circulatg among New York’s gay men epted to public view early July, when dozens of allegatns about Motel 23 were posted on an anonymo Instagram man behd the acunt, “mymotel23realy, ” who spoke on the ndn of anonymy, said he went to Motel 23 for the first time June. At the door, the man, who said he had never met Cohen before and do not equent New York’s gay nightlife scene, said that Cohen was gog to let him for ee, but charge his iend, who is Black, $250 for admissn. ” Wh days, he had received a flood of msag wh allegatns, he anonymo claims posted by the acunt llectively allege that Motel 23’s owner turned gay parti and bars, which some see as queer safe spac, to toxic environments where young men were subjected to unwanted sexual advanc.

THE 10 BEST NEW YORK CY GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK CY

Brtany Bent, 31, said that this sprg, the bar’s door staff told her she would have to pay a $150 ver to enter, while the three iends who acpanied her — all gay men — uld get for ee.

“It’s jt so crazy that any discrimatn’s happeng at a gay bar, ” she said. Seekg New York newersLong before he opened Motel 23, Cohen had a knack for nnectg wh young, gay men new to New York Cy, reachg out to them wh weeks of their arrival, five men said. “I thk he jt looked at my Facebook photos and jt had an klg like, ‘Oh, he’s got to be gay, ’” said T., who was then 17.

“He knew I was gay before I knew I was gay. “To me, was clear that he was a proment person New York’s gay nightlife. He soon began shiftg his reer to the nightlife started hostg parti at Phoenix Bar, a popular gay venue the East Village.

THE EAGLE NYCPOPULAR GAY FETISH BAR IN CHELSEANEW YORK CYMENUHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGEON TODAYBARSLBIAN BARSDANCE CLUBSCISE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECULTURESHOPSLGBT+ ATTRACTNSCY GUIGAY TOURSRTRANTSGAY BEACHGAY MAPGAY WEDDGSTHE EAGLE NYC

’ — bee I was wearg a palm tree shirt — ‘You gay?

’”Insi, Cohen, then 38, troduced Battersby to a large group of other young gay men — the type of muny he said he had spent almost all of his teenage years yearng for. “In high school, I was one of the only gay kids my school, ” said Battersby, who grew up a Philalphia suburb.

“The opportuny to tablish a group of gay iends that I would go out wh was really, really excg to me. And his iends om all gay clubs New York if he refed, J. “I thought, ‘Oh, my god, this guy has so much power, this guy has so much ntrol — he’s really gog to prevent me and my iends om gog to any gay club ever aga, ’” J.