WATCH: Arsonist sets fire NYC gay bar

gay bar fire new york

The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, took place on June 28, 1969, New York Cy, after police raid the Stonewall Inn, a lol gay club. The raid sparked a rt among bar patrons and neighborhood rints as police hled employe and patrons out of the bar, leadg to six days of protts and vlent clash. The Stonewall Rts served as a talyst for the gay rights movement.

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WATCH: ARSONIST SETS FIRE NYC GAY BAR

* gay bar fire new york *

Photograph: Marie Le Ble/Zuma Wire/Rex/ShutterstockThis week, New York Cy’s mayor, Eric Adams, posned the cy as a welg place for queer people ntrast to plac like Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis jt signed a “don’t say gay” law. New York Cy’s most well-known cint is the police raid at Stonewall Inn that sparked the 1969 Stonewall Uprisg – and helped lnch the morn gay rights movement.

The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, began the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay club loted Greenwich Village New York Cy.

THE GAY BATHHOE FIRE OF 1977

The Stonewall Rts served as a talyst for the gay rights movement the Uned Stat and around the world. Constant Raids at Gay BarsThe 1960s and precedg s were not welg tim for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) Amerins. For stance, solicatn of same-sex relatns was illegal New York such reasons, LGBT dividuals flocked to gay bars and clubs, plac of refuge where they uld exprs themselv openly and socialize whout worry.

However, the New York State Liquor Authory penalized and shut down tablishments that served alhol to known or spected LGBT dividuals, argug that the mere gatherg of homosexuals was “disorrly. But engagg gay behavr public (holdg hands, kissg or dancg wh someone of the same sex) was still illegal, so police harassment of gay bars ntued and many bars still operated whout liquor licens— part bee they were owned by the Rights Before StonewallThe first documented U. Gay rights anizatn, The Society for Human Rights (SHR), was found 1924 by Henry Gerber, a German immigrant.

GAY FIRE ISLAND

Police raids forced them to disband 1925, but not before they had published several issu of their newsletter, “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter. In 1966, three years before Stonewall, members of The Mattache Society, an anizatn dited to gay rights, staged a “sip-” where they openly clared their sexualy at taverns, darg staff to turn them away and sug tablishments who did. When The Commissn on Human Rights led that gay dividuals had the right to be served bars, police raids were temporarily Stonewall Inn The crime syndite saw prof terg to shunned gay clientele, and by the mid-1960s, the Genove crime fay ntrolled most Greenwich Village gay bars.

In 1966, they purchased Stonewall Inn (a “straight” bar and rtrant), cheaply renovated , and reopened the next year as a gay bar. It weled drag queens, who received a bter receptn at other gay bars and clubs. It was a nightly home for many naways and homels gay youths, who panhandled or shoplifted to afford the entry fee.

And was one of the few—if not the only—gay bar left that allowed were still a fact of life, but ually rpt ps would tip off Mafia-n bars before they occurred, allowg owners to stash the alhol (sold whout a liquor license) and hi other illegal activi. Stonewall's LegacyThough the Stonewall uprisg didn’t start the gay rights movement, was a galvanizg force for LGBT polil activism, leadg to numero gay rights anizatns, cludg the Gay Liberatn Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays) the one-year anniversary of the rts on June 28, 1970, thoands of people marched the streets of Manhattan om the Stonewall Inn to Central Park what was then lled “Christopher Street Liberatn Day, ” Ameri’s first gay pri para.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY BAR FIRE NEW YORK

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class="byle-name">Tat Bellamy-Walker</span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">A bar servg LGBTQ New Yorkers has closed after an arson attack over the weekend, the New York Cy Police Department nfirmed Wednday. </p><p class="">At approximately 9 p.m. on Sunday, a man walked to the Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood wh a bottle of flammable liquid, poured on the bar’s floor, l a match and set the venue ablaze, acrdg to the NYPD. Police said the spect fled as the bar beme engulfed flam.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">Jake Sillen, one of the bar’s owners, told NBC News on Wednday that they are still shock. </p><p class="">“It’s so hard to believe and procs,” said Sillen, 26, who is nonbary and they/them pronouns. “It’s more nfg than anythg.” </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_small__5hUB_ styl_portra__NRWbO"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="The Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood." height="1080" width="718"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">The Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood.</span><span class="ptn__source">Rash Bar / via NBC New York</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Three people — a bartenr, DJ and secury guard — were si when the venue was set on fire. A 25-year-old female was transported to nearby Wyckoff Heights Medil Center wh mor burns, while another victim was evaluated on the scene for mor burns to the shoulrs, the NYPD said. </p><p class="">Claire Bender, a -owner of Rash, had jt stepped outsi when the fire broke out. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“Everyone shed out,” <a href=">Bender told NBC New York</a>. “The si door has a glass ont, and I looked over and saw flam to the top of ceilg. It was crazy, happened so fast.”</p><p class="">The bar was left unregnizable and torched, NBC New York reported.</p><p class="">Bender, who they/them pronouns, said the spect boldly left behd evince. </p><p class="">“He left the gas nister si. Kd of lmly placed on the bar unter. Wasn’t knocked over or anythg,” they told NBC New York. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">Police are reviewg surveillance footage that shows someone fillg up a gas n mut before the fire.</p><h2 class=""><strong>'Easy target'</strong></h2><p class="">Police are still vtigatg a motive for the cint, and no arrts have been ma. The bar’s owner cled to ment on the spect’s tentns but noted that servg a large LGBTQ clientele mak the space vulnerable. </p><p class="">“I don’t want to jump to any nclns, bee we don’t know anythg about the person that did this,” Sillen said. “It uld easily turn out to be a motive that we aren’t expectg.” </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><p class="">“It’s easy to see why our space would be an easy target for someone lookg to do harm to the queer muny,” they said, addg that Rash Bar, “people feel safe to be themselv, and ’s a shame that anybody would do anythg to threaten this.” </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">Sce the bar opened nearly five months ago, has bee a staple LGBTQ nightlife and a refuge for queer young adults and performers. It is also known for beg packed late to the night, acrdg to NBC New York.</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><p class="">This is not the only reported cint<strong> </strong>targetg bars or near the Bhwick neighborhood that are popular wh the cy’s LGBTQ muny: In Febary, someone threw a<a href="> pepper-bomb spray on the dance floor</a> at a party for the Black queer muny at Nowadays, and last summer there was a wave of attacks at <a href=">Happyfun Hiaway.</a> </p><p class="">“We, fely the last year, have seen a rise anti-LGBT vlence,” Sillen said, notg that more people are takg rs to and om parti. “The streets haven’t been as safe as they were three or four years ago.”</p><p class="">As of Wednday afternoon, the bar owners <a href=">had raised $52,000 of their $200,000 goal on GoFundMe</a> to help renstct the damaged buildg and re for the jured employe. Sillen said they are thankful for the outpourg of support. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“What we’re dog is important, and no matter what, we will be reopeng,” Sillen said. “We’ve never once thought about that not beg a possibily.” </p><p class="">Sillen, who is still on edge after the fire, said they have a msage for the arsonist. </p><p class="">“Turn yourself ,” Sillen said. “You’ve harmed so many people. Not jt physilly, but the wav that this is gog to create — between the loss of e, wag and jt the space for as long as ’s gog to be gone. … It’s a lot of loss.”<strong> </strong></p><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>NBC Out</em></strong></a><strong><em> on </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Twter</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Facebook</em></strong></a><strong><em> & </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Instagram</em></strong></a></p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><div class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--has-image expand-byle__thumbnail"><picture><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="" height="48" width="48"/></picture></div><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name">Tat Bellamy-Walker</span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Tat Bellamy-Walker is the sk assistant for NBC News' diversy vertils. </p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo .

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