How the Mob Helped Establish NYC’s Gay Bar Scene | HISTORY

Contents:

• THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC
• THE 10 BEST NEW YORK CY GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK CY
• THE BT GAY HOOK-UP SPOTS NYC
• THE 15 BT GAY BARS NYC TO CHECK OUT
• THE 10 BEST NEW YORK GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK
• A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF NEW YORK CY'S GAY & QUEER BARS
• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE
• NEW YORK CY GAY BARS
• A GUI TO NYC'S GAY BARS
• NEW YORK CY GAY TRAVEL

THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC

27 plac sorted by traveler favorBars & Clubs • Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)Bars & Clubs • Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)Bars & Clubs • Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)What travelers are saygDgn1010Dungannon, UK392 ntributnsSo ol to be drkg such a historil bar.

I went to a few gay bars, and by far this was the bt place to dance and the mic was the bt here, varied, and not too much dance mic like you got your head bangg a fish bowl!

THE 10 BEST NEW YORK CY GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK CY

There are plenty of gay bars up and down 9th ave and there's no reason to spend money at a place that will treat you like total trash, threaten you, and be unnecsarily belligerent and make you feel unsafe jt bee they're on some kd of power trip. It would figure that Williamsburg's premiere gay bar would have only a MySpace page as s webse—ah, the ironic retro ter—and this award-wng gay and lbian oriented bar is one of the most popular the borough, even moro durg the warm weather months due to s am...

The Boiler Room is as far removed thematilly as is geographilly om the Hell's Kchen and Chelsea gay scen—what New York lovgly lls a "post-gay gay bar"—where orientatn isn't a good enough basis for nversatn and beg the most over-the-top bottom won't w yo...

THE BT GAY HOOK-UP SPOTS NYC

Probably Manhattan's most clive gay club, Indtry is a b of an anomaly Midtown nightlife, that rare place you aim directly for stead of happen to end up at. Multi-level gay bar wh three differently themed rooms, om a banquette-stuffed lounge for dg and mglg, a simple but elegant bar, and a third for dancg and cisg. New York's Lost Gay BarsWe've known for many years that too many of our cherished gay bars and clubs are shutterg, fallg victim to risg rents and the ubiquy of apps like Grdr and Scff.

THE 15 BT GAY BARS NYC TO CHECK OUT

The history of NYC nightlife is studd wh the memori of fascatg boît that attracted gays sperate need of nnectn, then ultimately fell away as newer spots and trends emerged.

Kyle: My favore is probably the Nth Circle (a fab Wt 10th Street steakhoe-turned-gay-bar full of leather clon, twks, htlers, and celebry drop-s, all eher cisg, playg pool, dog dgs, or bbg agast each other. While bathho, drag balls, and good ol’ “Screech Beach” (also known as the beach at Jab Riis Park) were all important s for queer gathergs, the cy’s queer muny pecially thrived s gay bars. Bars allowed queer people to socialize whout a polil agenda and offered a space for them to celebrate their sexualy wh relative eedom—“relative” beg the key word, as homosexual solicatn was still illegal and police raids were mon.

In New York’s gay bars, however, pri is a yearlong event—and for your nvenience, we’ve assembled a list of the bt LGBTQ bars the cy has to offer, om chic clubs to kky div to s-old queer strongholds. Consistently ranked as one of NYC’s bt gay bars by New York Magaze and The Village Voice, Indtry is known for s sizeable high-ceilged dance floor and dtrial athetic. In 1966, a full three years before the Stonewall Rts, Juli’ was also the se of the Mattache Society’s “sip-, ” a prott agast the then-mon practice of bars refg to serve alhol to gay people, that ultimately succeed forcg the State Liquor Authory to relax s discrimatory polici.

THE 10 BEST NEW YORK GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK

As one of only 21 lbian bars left the untry and one of three New York Cy (the other two beg Cubbyhole jt a few blocks north and Gger’s Bar Park Slope) Henrietta Hudson is fiercely mted to creatg a space that embrac members of the LGBTQ muny who are often left alienated queer spac domated by cis gay men. In recent years, some gay bars have begun dilutg the kks and raw sexualy that prevly fed the spac an effort to make them a ltle more accsible to heterosexual bar hoppers. When the permanent versn of his avant-gar queer nightclub opened 2017, quickly beme known for s dazzlg, celebry-studd baret, drag, and standup performanc ( whose dienc Cummg himself n ocsnally be spotted) as well as for hostg events that might not be tradnally found a gay bar, such as jazz jam ssns and “drk and draw” nights wh live figure mols.

29 plac sorted by traveler favorBars & Clubs • Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)Bars & Clubs • Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)Bars & Clubs • Gay BarsDowntown Manhattan (Downtown)What travelers are saygDgn1010Dungannon, UK392 ntributnsSo ol to be drkg such a historil bar.

A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF NEW YORK CY'S GAY & QUEER BARS

Whether you're celebratg NYC Pri late June, planng a future trip to the Big Apple, or a lol lookg for a new bar to check out, here is a prehensive list of nearly every gay and queer bar NYC.

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

The Eagle NYC, Chelsea: Perhaps the send-most cise-y of New York's gay bars, the multi-level Eagle ters almost exclively to gay men, and gets more bchero on each floor. Juli', Wt Village: Another Wt Village stutn, 1966, a "sip " was held by activists at the bar to challenge the New York State Liquor Authory's regulatn that barred the servg of homosexuals.

NEW YORK CY GAY BARS

Rz Bar & Lounge, Hell's Kchen: Smack dab the thick of the Theater District, multi-level Rz Bar & Lounge plays host to many good old-fashned dance parti, attractg a mostly younger gay crowd.

The Toolbox Bar, Upper East Si: One of the few, if only, gay bars on the Upper East Si, this lorful, timate bar offers happy hour specials and regular live entertament. Townhoe Piano Bar, Midtown East: Three bars, a piano room wh nightly performanc (and a drs ), this cktail lounge attracts a mix of senr and younger gay men.

A GUI TO NYC'S GAY BARS

Hombr Lounge, Jackson Heights: Self-proclaimed as havg the most Manhattan vibe of all Queens gay bars, Hombr Lounge attracts a diverse, predomantly Lat crowd and offers up tasty bar food wh s cktail menu. The Stonewall InnAny list of the bt LGBTQ bars New York Cy would be remiss not to clu the landmark waterg hole largely rponsible for lnchg the morn gay rights movement: The Stonewall Inn. If late-night hunger hs, the Tex-Mex menu is surprisgly good; opt for Flamg Saddl’ signature Fro Pie—’s Fro rn chips smothered homema Texas red chilli, and ’s absolutely Maria BadasianAn East Village stutn for two s, the Phoenix Bar is one of the bt gay bars NYC for a reason4.

” Inspired by civil rights s-s and anized by the Mattache Society, the “Sip-In” was a public challenge to the state’s discrimatory policy of revokg licens of bars servg gay clientele—a precursor to Stonewall and an sential step towards legimizg the velopment of gay bars.

NEW YORK CY GAY TRAVEL

CubbyholeAs acceptance and tolerance ntue to bee the way of the world, once exclive gay clubs NYC are now welg everyone and anyone—so long as you’re equally open-md. LipsFor a sctillatg drag queen show paired wh an exquise culary experience, head straight to Lips—NYC’s go-to drag spot for over two s and a mt-clu on any gay travel gui to New York Cy.

Marie's CrisisIn this laid-back, gay-popular venue Greenwich Village, mil theatre stunts, fun-lovg ctomers, and even the ocsnal celebry stop by to belt their favoure Broadway show tun to the acpaniment of a live pianist. But between New York’s LGBT muny the 1960s beg forced to live on the outskirts of society and the Mafia’s disregard for the law, the two ma a profable, if uneasy, the gay muny blossomed New York Cy the 1960s, members had few plac to gather publicly.

Unr the guise of New York State’s liquor laws that barred “disorrly” premis, the State Liquor Authory and the New York Police Department regularly raid bars that tered to gay the law saw viance, however, the Mafia saw a goln bs opportuny. It was the only place where gay people uld openly dance close together, and for relatively ltle money, drag queens (who received a bter receptn at other bars), naways, homels LGBT youths and others uld be off the streets as long as the bar was open. “Fat Tony, ” for one, paid New York’s 6th Precct approximately $1, 200 a week, exchange for the police agreeg to turn a bld eye to the “cent nduct” occurrg behd closed Photo<em>An NYPD officer grabs someone by their hair as another officer clubs a young man durg a nontatn Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march New York, 1970.