When the weather is nice outside, you should go to the 19th floor where you can enjoy cocktails on the terrace. The entire club has spectacular views of all of Manhattan and the Hudson River. During the wintertime, it serves as an extra dance floor. When the club is open during the summertime, people can even go swimming in it. The name Le Bain comes from the indoor pool located just next to the DJ booth. On the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel, you will find this two-floor club called Le Bain. After a lot of consideration, there are three places that you shouldn’t miss: Le Bain However, Chelsea is not the only part of town for LGBTQ+ nightlife: all over New York, there is a wide range of bars, clubs, and parties. The NYC Pride is a cheerful parade with all kinds of cars and it starts around noon.
The march runs from Fifth Avenue to Greenwhich Village, passing the Stonewall Inn. This parade festively closes the pride month in New York. New York PrideĮvery year the New York Pride takes place. For those who appreciate the finer things in life: upscale dining, high-end shops and world-class art galleries can also be found here. In Chelsea, you will find many gay bars and other establishments. Chelsea was a cheaper option where everyone was warmly welcomed. Due to the increasing LGBTQ+ acceptance, after the Stonewall Riots, many people wanted to live in Greenwich Village, but the prices of the housing were very high. The most popular LGBTQ+ area of New York is Chelsea, between 14th Street and Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan. The latest success for New Yorkers was the legalisation of gay marriage in June 2011. Following this revolt for gay rights, uprisings spread throughout the world for equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Stonewall Inn, where the uprising originated, has since reopened on 53 Christopher Street.
Anti-LGBTQ+ laws along with police raids of gay bars in 1969 led to a series of violent uprisings against the police by the LGBTQ+ community: the Stonewall Riots. Many public establishments were not welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community and there were laws against serving alcohol to gay people. In fact, homosexual practices were considered punishable by law.
During this time, there were no rights for these individuals. Shortly after WWII, many gay men, lesbians, transgender people and those of all genders found refuge in the neighbourhoods of Greenwich Village, the Upper West Side, and Harlem. To still be here feels overwhelmingly miraculous as about a dozen contemporaries are not.New York has long been considered the place where the gay rights movement began. It was in the spring of 1983 that things really began getting scary but before there was a golden age of freedom. It is difficult to imagine that the thought of death and STDs was not in my head. I was 19/20 then and had no problem with hooking up with "older" guys in their 30s.įor about a year then the sex was unsafely carefree. Marks Baths where memorably I got fucked by a guy guy who looked liked Peter Wolf.įor variety there was the fabled Uncle Charlie's on Greenwich Avenue. To experience the baths there were a few visits to The St. Marks Place and The Bar on Second Avenue. Most nights it was a zig zag between Boy Bar on St. The Ass Trick club on West Street was another cool fuck temple. Ah, the men's room with its' communal urinal trough. The downstairs/backroom was where I got broken in many times and where I met my first real boyfriend. by AnonymousĪs a New Wave Fag attending NYU circa 1982 The Anvil on Tuesdays for New Wave Night was what I looked forward to. I guess the lower numbers (Baby Boomer aged and decimated by HIV) assimilation and even more significant, the Internet, have ended the huge party that was NYC for gay men from the early 70s until the advent of HIV. Christopher Street on any summer night in the late 70s crammed with gay men- hot gay men.
CPW along the Park was chock full of hot men. Columbus Ave on a hot night like tonight was mobbed with gay men-Museum Cafe (can't remember the other one right down the Ave) and other restaurants almost totally gay. and of course Studio and then the granddaddy of them all The Saint. The 9th Circle on W 10th- up the street Julius on Sun afternoon was fun for a burger at the bar.Īnd the clubs? Flamingo, 12 West, Paradise Garage, Les Mouch etc, any night of the week, and all night. Wildwood on the Upper West Side then Cahoots then the Works. Uncle Charlies on 38th and Third early then around the corner to Barefoot Boy later to dance. Yup the Spike and the original Eagle up the street on 11th- Sun early eve was Nestea at the Eagle.