At East River State Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with Manhattan in the background
All that golden past, in the New York post Rudolph Guliani has almost disappeared, but there are still vestiges of that glorious era , and many novelties in one of the cities with the most offers for the pink world. For example, plans can be made to visit several of the murals by Keith Haring scattered around Manhattan (some as unknown and interesting as the iconic decoration of the bathroom of the NYC LGBT Community Center), go to see the mythical nightclubs lime light (today converted into a gym) or Studio 54 (now a musical theater), go to the performances that some of the Michael Alig's Original Club Kids , like Amanda Lepore or Desi Santiago , see musicals (Hedwig in the lead) or a show by the gay rapper Cazwell , and of course visit the bars and clubs scattered throughout the Big Apple, with very different styles.
There are many gay New Yorks: the bear scene, the pink hip hop movement, the gay hipster, the queer old school, the leather-fetish, the gay-burlesque, the gay-nerd, the drag scene… All of them merged into one.
In addition there are several leisure getaways close to Manhattan such as a visit to Fire Island (a kind of Gay Hamptons Accessed by Ferry ), the week of “bears” in the Provincetown Bear Week (where the cream of this urban tribe meets), or festivals such as Folsom Street East (dedicated to leather fetishism and all its paraphernalia) or the irreverent Bushwig (in the alternative neighborhood of Bushwick with the most trashy and latest generation drag queen and drag king scene).
Fire Island
Unlike other cities with only one gay area New York has different areas that form a night circuit through which to move by taxi or in its metro open 24 hours.
WEST VILLAGE
It was Manhattan's first gay area since the 70s , with a lost glamor of which there is still a certain shine in places like the Stonewall Inn, scene of the famous riots, and today iconic place of pilgrimage, Converted into an ambient bar with gay-burlesque shows like those by the artist Matt Knife and his Homo Erectus Boylesque. Across the street is The Monster favorite site of the most mature (old queens) with live piano and voice performances of songs from musicals in the style of old Broadway, and refreshing frozen Margarita.
Another must-see site is Julius, a classic from the 70s, with photos of New York's gay history, hamburgers and hot dogs, good rock music and hot spot of bears, daddys, and moderns who now claim it. On the famous Christopher st is Ty´s Bar, open since 1972 and the favorite for the afternoon at its happy hour with gogos, bear parties and firecracker music . Going down the street near the Pier, there is Rock Bar with a darker atmosphere, frequented by bears and with DJs and live performances by rock groups.
For lesbians, the most kitsch and fun bar is Cubbyhole with happy hour, and where lesbian chic and bull dykes get together to drink in a colorful environment. Once the bars are closed, proceed to the modern session Westgay at The Westway nightclub , through whose catwalk they pass the most underground rappers and dj's , and where you can dance to Experimental Club Music, Vogue, Jersey & Baltimore club, and Queer Rap/Hip Hop surrounded by the most alternative young people.
West Village is an explosive mix of NY trash with transsexuals that take to the streets at night (beware it can be dangerous to go down Christopher st after 4am), a San Francisco-style eighties gay scene fused and coexisting with the Ny “fashion” of Sex and the City.
West Village
CHINATOWN
In Chinatown you will find the small and modern club Le Baron with a mixed atmosphere but with a gay vocation, where type celebrities go Lana del Rey or Ana Matronic , models, artists and where even some Spaniards living in NY like Jadraque DJ or the illustrator Silvia Prada.
CHELSEA
The Chueca of Manhattan and abode of the so-called Chelsea Chickens (cycled guys with a lot of muscle on top, very tight, and “overproduced”) that made the neighborhood the hot spot in the 2000s. Lots of gyms, sex shops, gay clothing stores, and plenty of cocktail bars where you can show off muscles, with drags, gogo dancers, commercial pop music, like the Gym Bar, very popular in the middle of the afternoon for its happy hour and its American football broadcasts, and which has a bear bar in its lower part.
Going up 8th avenue is XES.Lounge a nice bar with an interior patio with spectacular industrial views , and in the same area the Barracuda Lounge, also very lively and very commercial in a 2000s gay style. The only fetish bar in the city stands out from the Chelsea style, The Eagle, which every Sunday opens its code to celebrate on your terrace one of the best evenings , with live DJs and a mixture of styles, races and social classes. Fridays highlights Dirt , a rock session at the hands of Dj's Damian and Mirch.
As a prelude to the Eagle, it's a good idea to stop by the modern Hotel Americano, two streets below, and with parties as avant-garde as those organized by the artist. desi santiago . Although Chelsea is no longer the most interesting and is somewhat outdated, it is always good to visit it even if it is only for gay anthropology and drinking fireballs (cinnamon flavor Bourbon shots) .
Contemporary design at the Hôtel Americano.
HELL'S KITCHEN
It has superseded Chelsea as an ambient fun zone, thanks to rogue bars, much more fun and with less pose . They are homo bars with a certain hetero spirit, like Industry Bar or Flaming Saddles with dancing, gap, good music of various styles in the Bar Coyote style. **A little more modern is Ritz Bar** with regular appearances by some of the drags from Ru Paul's Drag Race and with the 'Do the Right Thing' session by rapper Cazwell who DJs and raps live.
WILLIAMSBURG
A couple of years ago it was the trendiest place in Brooklyn, and it is still the favorite place for European hipsters attracted by that halo of posh modernity, but who don't know what it is. Bushwick what now creates trend . Hipster bears, alternative artists, indie fans of beards, old school barbershops, vintage, tattoos, coffee served by baristas... these are the customers of the Metropolitan Bar, which has a terrace and is the setting for original parties and cultural performances bizarre gay. It's perfect for escaping Chelsea style and being able to enter the pink hipster, much more discreet and sophisticated.
Along the same lines, but more subversive, is TNT (This ´n That) that organizes the craziest parties, never better said. The latest club to open is Love Gun that promises to make Williamsburg one of the most powerful gay areas.
EAST VILLAGE
It is the most modern and alternative gay area, a favorite of Brooklyn hipster bears, artists, outsiders of the scene and other tribes that do not like hackneyed clichés. In these bars they worship the most bizarre gay paraphernalia.
Another essential joint is Nowhere Bar, a hot spot for the alternative bear scene, and with DJs like Damian or Dandy Lion, who play cult pop music, vintage techno, acid, new disco, italo disco, electro with specific remixes for their sessions.
It has a lot of roll too Boiler Room which has relics from another bar now closed, bar, scene of the movie The Hunt, which portrayed the underground gay world in 1970s New York . You have to remember that in the 80s the East Village was one of the most badass areas, and even dangerous, like the ninth and tenth avenues, which thanks to the rise of the gay became trendy and exclusive locations.
One of the kings of the East Village
NEW JERSEY
Thanks to the Path, the Hoboken neighborhood in New Jersey is already like an extension of Christopher St. It has the only gay beer garden in the city, Pint, a bar where they have beers from all over the world and a laid-back gay neighborhood vibe, with a steady clientele of bears, and home-grown gays looking for his particular “Cheers” and ros a. Another boys' entertainment spot is Feathers, which opened 30 years ago and was NJ's first gay bar. It's still open and throwing 2000s-style drag queen parties.
Follow @farrandemora
_ You may also be interested..._*
- Reflections on LGBT tourism at FITUR: "Segmenting LGBT tourism is not creating ghettos: it is a necessity"
- Tel Aviv and Maspalomas, bastion of LGBT tourism
- Lisbon comes out of the closet
- The family album of New York: 60 postcards from the capital of the world
- New York with 20 years vs. New York with 30
- Not just coffee: the most peculiar coffee shops in New York
- 14 reasons to return to New York in 2014
- 100 things about New York you should know
- The best boozy brunches in New York
- The best brunches in New York
- The best burgers in New York
- Green New York: organic cuisine in the Big Apple