NYC is a gay-friendly town with a variety of neighbourhoods offering pockets of queer culture and nightlife, each with its own fruity flavour. In the past decade, a lot of the action has left “the big city” for Brooklyn districts such as Williamsburg and Bushwick, but there’s still plenty of adrenaline left in Manhattan to make heat-seeking worthwhile there. The West Village – the hub of the modern gay movement, thanks to the 1969 rebellion at the Stonewall Inn – still bristles with gay bars and drag clubs, mostly unaffected hangouts such as the appealing Pieces, and The Monster, a two-floor nightlife emporium with piano bar on top and disco down below.
Chelsea (the gay mecca in the 90s) was beset by a mass exodus as it became gentrified, though the long-running Barracuda Lounge still provides booze and schmooze, and G Lounge never goes away, thanks to its ambient mini-areas in which to hang with your clique. And Hell’s Kitchen (or HK) is now the gay epicentre, where rents are a little more affordable, thereby attracting swarms of new arrivals who prowl the streets and look for fun on an obsessive basis. (On last count, there were 14 gay bars in the area, without a cap off in sight.)
The internet has taken a big bite out of clubbing, as you hardly need go to a bar anymore to meet Mr Right-For-An-Hour, but these venues still provide valuable get-together spaces, as well as places to see drag performers, who are more popular than ever in the era of RuPaul’s Drag Race. There are also cultural events all over the city, from NewFest (the city’s LGBT film festival) to concerts, such as a Kiki and Herb reunion (Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman reprising their act as a woozy cabaret couple). And even gays without muscles have a chance at some fun.
Clubs
By Steven Manchester, nightlife promoter, performer and club regular
I go to clubs based on the music and DJs, which are in my opinion what makes a party. For deeper beats, Brut, a monthly night at Santos Party House, is great. It’s for the leather crowd. I consider it like a mini Black Party (the annual hedonistic circuit party in NYC). Everyone’s all over the place, moving, moving, moving. There’s a play area for fooling around in one section and an upstairs and downstairs. There are two different DJs, serving two different types of music. It is promoted as having a “low-lit basement, after-hours vibe, and sweaty fun times” and that’s all true.
Viva on Saturdays at Stage 48 is always packed with gorgeous guys. The party, hosted by nightlife vets John Blair, Beto Sutter, and Ric Sena, attracts the muscle queen scene. It’s definitely high energy and a reliable party. It’s one of the longest running, successful parties on a weekly basis, and it never fails. The party took off from day one and has kept its mojo.
Ric Sena’s party Alegria – a large-scale event at rotating clubs such as Webster Hall – is the best. It’s full of energy, with amazing performances, visuals, and lighting. The last one I went to was Batman-themed and had an actual Batman car hanging from the ceiling and the DJ dressed as the Joker. The crowd is a very good mix, reflecting the melting pot aspect of New York, not just muscle queens.
I also wouldn’t miss Everything at Diamond Horseshoe, hosted by Brian Rafferty and Joe Roszak. It’s a fabulous venue in the basement of the Paramount Hotel, where earlier in the night they have the lavish Queen of the Night revue for tourists. You have to go down four flights of stairs, all marble, and it feels really atmospheric. Last time I went there were performance artists, aerial acrobatics, individuals on stilts, and neon body painting.
Pubs and bars
By Chuck Attix, party host and management consultant
The Hell’s Kitchen lounge Barrage is a good date spot because it’s got lots of seating and the music isn’t too loud. There are naked pictures in the bathroom but this isn’t your typical over-the-top gay bar with loud music and customers. It’s a place to really get to know someone, which is rare.
Boxers NYC in Chelsea is a great cruisey bar. There are always cute people there. It also has bar food, like pizza, wings and mozzarella sticks. It’s friendly, with a good after-work crowd. But it’s a sports bar, and it’s a bit ironic that it has sports games on that no one pays any attention to. A straight guy owns it, and I guess he doesn’t know any better.
I enjoy the long-running West Village bar Julius because you can’t beat its $3 happy hour drinks from 4pm to 9pm and I also like the older, neighbourhood crowd – it’s packed full of regulars. It’s the gay Cheers – if you’re 70, lol, though there’s usually a mix, with other types straggling in. It serves great food and it’s so cheap.
When you want something a little dark, there’s the Boiler Room in the East Village. It’s actually a good place to take an ugly date. It has a pool table and also the photo booth is pretty fun. The ambience draws an edgier, more hipster, crowd than most of the other bars. I like it for the sense of mystery and a feeling of possibility.
Lesbian bars
By Yetta G Kurland, civil rights attorney
One of the few go-to lesbian bars that still exists is the Cubby Hole, on the corner of W 12th and W 4th Streets. Any night of the week, you can go and have a good time. It’s packed on weekends, but it’s a good Tuesday or Wednesday hangout, when other places might be dead. It’s very much a neighbourhood lesbian bar. You’ll run into friends you know from different places, and though there are straight folks who go there too – men and women – there’s definitely a lesbian vibe. It’s small and cosy and there’s a jukebox.
On Friday night, you can also hang out in what many call “the Bermuda Triangle”: the confluence of the Duplex, Stonewall Inn, and the Monster. The Duplex is a cabaret/hangout with a mixed crowd – an especially good place to hang at when the weather is warmer, given the cruisey outside patio (and on Saturdays, there’s a big lesbian crowd upstairs). On Fridays, upstairs at the Stonewall is a girl thing called Lesbo-A-Gogo, with DJs and gogo dancers. And the same night, across the street at Monster is Hot Rabbit, a girl event with gogo dancers and offbeat performances. It has different DJs serving up good dance music, and it has a good vibe, and a lot of women turn out there. Between those places, you’ll usually be able to find something that appeals to you. You’ve got three chances to find what you want.
Dagger is a monthly party held at a space it keeps unnamed. There is a cast of DJs, like JD Samson. The cover charge is on a sliding scale based on your gender. Women get in cheaper, “homo cys dudes” pay more, and “str8 cys dudes” pay a lot more. It’s mostly women, but queer flavoured, and attracts a much younger crowd, with a Williamsburg-hipster feel, and it’s trans friendly.
There’s a party thrown by the owner of the Stonewall Inn, Stacy Lentz, called Vintage at 49 Grove Street. It’s a monthly tea dance specifically geared towards women in their 30s and over. It has a huge turnout, with really good music, and younger women go there too. It’s pretty much exclusively women. And it’s really cool to see women of all ages having a great time. It’s super-packed and super-fun, and a place where people can pick people up. You can definitely meet your next whatever there.
Arts and culture
By Adam Feldman, theatre and cabaret critic, Time Out New York
Always worth visiting is the HOT! Festival (of theatre, music, dance, and literature) at Dixon Place, celebrating queer culture. It’s usually in July and encompasses a wide range of different performance styles and approaches. A lot of it consists of works in progress and there’s usually a centrepiece show by a more established artist. Dixon Place is a haven for creative experimentation.
Also, the FringeNYC Festival in August, has a lot of queer content. It’s usually around 200 shows performing in a range of venues, with different levels of professionalism. It provides the joy of finding a diamond in the rough, a real jewel in a bauble tiara. The shows turn over quickly – they’re very low-tech – so you really get stripped-down theatre, which can be more fun. It’s a nice way to dip your foot in the talent pool. Urinetown and some other shows that have had an afterlife started there, but it’s more of its own reward. Don’t go thinking you’re necessarily going to see the best show you’ve ever seen, but it’s fun as an experience.
The Public Theater is a great place to see theatre, and it is committed to diversity. It is among the best in the city at programming with a strong eye to diverse voices, and it also attracts some of the best talent. The Tony-winning Fun Home played there before its current run on Broadway. Fun Home’s main character is a butch lesbian, which is new for a Broadway musical. But the show doesn’t just break ground; it digs up the memories that are buried there, both joyful and tragic, and airs them in poignant and intelligent ways.
In Soho, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art (admission free) is a small treasure that celebrates the work of queer artists past and present. Its emphasis is on providing a space for work that might be excluded elsewhere, including very racy, but artistic, exhibits of LGBT erotica.
Pop culture is memorialised at The Meeting, a monthly theatrical-style event with Justin Sayre, usually at Joe’s Pub at 425 Lafayette Street. Justin is a leading figure in retro queer comic sophistication, a hilarious, cutting wit of the old school. His show is a combination of ranting monologues and sketches and musical guests. The shows pay tribute to a different element of gay culture, high or low, every episode. It might be Bette Davis or it might be the movie Practical Magic.
Drag and cabaret
By Logan Hardcore, drag performer at Stonewall Inn, La Carbonara, and Fire Island’s Ice Palace
Boots and Saddle Drag Lounge is a legendary bar with a new venue, at 100A 7th Avenue South, that’s better than its first one. It’s bigger, and there’s finally a stage – a big stage. You can’t go in there without seeing a drag show. There’s a variety of live singing and dancing and good cheap drinks. It has around five shows a day and does a drag brunch on Saturday and Sunday. There’s bright lighting, and it’s very laid-back, very enjoyable.
The uptown drag restaurant Lips is known for its entertainment and drinks. The girls put on a terrific show that’s good, campy fun. It’s especially fun for birthdays and bachelorette-style parties. There’s a celebration, with a crown and everything. The birthday boy or girl goes onstage and gets harassed by a drag queen, and that includes gay birthdays and other gay parties. The decor adds to the whole spectacle – it’s very drag Disneyland, with neon and sparkles and over the top Liberace-style chic. Definitely worth a booking.
Industry Bar, on W 52nd Street in Hell’s Kitchen, is one of the most popular and successful bars in the area and it has a strong appreciation for the value of drag queens. On Thursday night, there’s the “Queen” show, one of New York’s only drag revues, with a different theme every week. It’s a splashy show starring “Holly Dae and the greatest queens on earth”. Bob the Drag Queen, who’s a very zany performer, has a night at Industry. Rumour has it she’s going to be on RuPaul’s Drag Race, so she’s going to blow up big. The bar is very homey and lounge-y, with lots of side seating areas and always something to take in.
A little bit more formal, the Laurie Beechman Theatre is an intimate space that’s like a comfy cabaret with tons of drag queens. They have great revues including Distorted Diznee and Distorted Divas, and a lot of the Drag Race girls perform there, such as Courtney Act, Jinkx Monsoon, and Alaska Thunderfuck. There are no bad seats, and there’s good food and entertainment.
