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

Contents:

• THE 10 BEST NEW YORK CY GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS NEW YORK CY
• THE BT GAY HOOK-UP SPOTS NYC
• YORK'S ONLY REMAG GAY BAR CLOS
• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE
• GAY AREA YORK
• GAY UNED KGDOM
• THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC
• GAY PENNSYLVANIA
• GAY USA
• GAY BUFFALO

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

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!

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. Altlands Ranch, Sprg Grove, closed effective March 20, acrdg to s Facebook Ranch was the last remag gay bar York after the prr closgs of Velvet Rope and members say technology and mastream tegratn have led to cle of gay County's olst and last remag gay bar has closed, acrdg to the Altland's Ranch Facebook Sprg Grove bar ma the closg announcement Tuday night and thanked s many supporters over the years. Charl Krs, longtime -chair of Parents, Fai and Friends of Gays and Lbians (PFLAG) York, said he had worked at The Ranch for many years as a ok, barback and doorman, retirg last December.

THE BT GAY HOOK-UP SPOTS NYC

"York County Enomic Alliance voic support for anti-discrimatn act for LGBT munyNo more safe haven: Members and supporters of the LGBT muny shared different viewpots on why York is now left whout any gay Tompks, of York Cy, said onle datg and technology has limed people's tert gog to bars.

"There's nothg ( York) for (gay people); 's very sad, " Tompks said, addg that he also hoped someone else would reopen The, who was born and raised York County, said he kept the bar open as long as he uld bee he wanted the LGBT muny to have a place they felt gay bars to open and close York clu the Velvet Rope, Club XS and Lux Nightclub, which closed November 2014.

"Louie Marven, executive director of the LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania, said the rctn populary of gay bars signifi more tegratn of the LGBT muny to mastream said the creased tegratn is part of the procs, but the loss of gay bars n still have negative effects. Historil signifince: Barry Loveland, chairman of the LGBT history project for the center, said gay bars played a signifint role historilly that they were the first place for LGBT people to gather and fd other LGBT bars central Pennsylvania date back to the 1940s and '50s, Loveland said. The Neptune Bar, which had been operatg Harrisburg sce the early 1970s, jt closed a uple years ago, he cle gay bars started the 1980s wh rise of AIDS, Loveland said, and they have ntued to fall wh the growth of Inter stant munitn tools.

YORK'S ONLY REMAG GAY BAR CLOS

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.

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

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.

GAY AREA YORK

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.

GAY UNED KGDOM

David Carter explas his book Stonewall: The Rts That Sparked the Gay Revolutn, that durg a typil raid, bar owners would change the lights om blue to whe, warng ctomers to stop dancg and drkg. Sometim the ps even went to the extreme measure of sendg female officers to the bathroom to verify people’s get around laws that prohibed servg alhol to LGBT patrons, many gay bars—cludg the Stonewall—operated ostensibly as “bottle bars, ” private clubs where members would brg their own alhol.

THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC

Apparently, too many high-powered dividuals—cludg Mafia members, police officers and big Hollywood nam—were implited as Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny. Most gay bars and clubs New York at the time were operated by the Mafia, who paid rptible police officers to look the other way and blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threateng to “out” them. After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village.

" This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad.

GAY PENNSYLVANIA

”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement. Johnson is seen at a Gay Liberatn Front monstratn at Cy Hall New York, a large crowd memorat the 2nd anniversary of the Stonewall rts Greenwich Village of New York Cy 1971.

GAY USA

1 / 14: RxSome scholars have argued the famo Stonewall rts that sparked the natnwi LGBT movement were as much a ristance agast the mob’s exploatn of the gay muny as they were a stggle agast police harassment and discrimatory laws.

” Two of the ma gay-rights anizatns that me out of the rts, the Gay Activists Alliance and Gay Liberatn Front, actively champned gettg anized crime out of gay Mafia’s stranglehold on New York Cy’s nightlife bs took a huge h wh a seri of high-profile prosecutns the 1980s. The 34th Annual Arizona Gay Roo happens Phoenix Febary; the World Gay Roo Fals happen October Sttsdale; and then there’s queer untry wtern bars Phoenix cludg Charlie’s, the Cash Nightclub and Lounge, and Lat-flavored nightclub Karamba (which hosts ocsnal wboy nights). A hangout for hippi, homos and honeymooners (check out the abundance of hotel spa su), this pretty Victorian town boasts LGBTQIA-owned bars, eateri, shops and even a gay rort.

But surely the fullt exprsn of gay Goln State bliss happens every time the sun beats down hard on Dolor Park San Francis and folks reprentg every letter of the queer alphabet ngregate on the so-lled “F Shelf” for an afternoon of idyll. So raise a glass to this New England gem at 168 York Street Cafe, a gay bar and rtrant loted the basement of a charmg brick townhoe and right around the rner om Yale Universy.

GAY BUFFALO

A Lilliputian gay area boasts queer-iendly rtrants and a uple of lively gay bars, then there’s Poodle Beach (lol), a patch of sand marked by a rabow flag and packed Speedo to Speedo summer.

Gay Days at Disney, which happens every June Orlando, has grown to be a global gay event attractg tens of thoands of people, but a vis to Disney World l anytime of year.

While the epicenter of gay life Geia is Atlanta, whose Midtown is home to the state’s most ncentrated LGBTQIA populatn, the llege town of Athens is where you should spend your next Peach Tree State gaytn. An opulent mp-osium of events cludg drag shows, mil performanc and danc, the Ball benefs lol AIDS chari, and shows that the quirky cy, which birthed high-profile queer artists like the B-52s and Michael Stipe of REM (Indigo Girls also rerd their first album here), has as much substance as do style for gay travelers. Elsewhere on the islands, there are sttered gay and gay-welg bars and clubs, but the bt place to hang out—and let all hang out—is at clothg optnal Ltle Beach at Makena State Park Mi.

There are a uple of gay bars town cludg Balny and Lucky Dog Tavern, but we say head over to Flyg M Coffeehoe, a batn fe (beans are roasted onse at a send lotn nearby Nampa), bakery and gift shop sce 1992.