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Bars & Nightlife
While their significance is often underestimated or dismissed by heterosexual society, bars and other establishments played a pivotal role throughout the 20th century — but particularly in the pre-Stonewall era — as centers for LGBT activism and community.
These spaces, whether always gay friendly or only during certain times of the day or week, gave LGBT people the freedom to be themselves in a way they usually could not be in their personal or professional lives.
This curated collection largely reflects the bar and nightlife scene of downtown Manhattan; as we research more sites we encourage you to reach out to us with suggestions in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
129 MacDougal Street
“Eve Adams’” (also often cited as “Eve Addams'”) was a popular after-theater club run by Polish-Jewish lesbian émigré Chawe Zlocsewer (with other variations, such as Eva Kotchever or Eva Czlotcheber) from 1925 to 1926.
It closed when she was convicted of obscenity and disorderly conduct, which resulted in her deportation.
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75 Christopher Street
Stewart’s Cafeteria, later the Life Cafeteria, was located in this Greenwich Village building in the 1930s and attracted a bohemian and gay and lesbian following.
The large plate glass windows put gay life on full display to the late-night crowds who frequented this busy intersection.
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130 West Third Street
Tony Pastor’s Downtown, in business from 1939 to 1967, was a mob-backed club with a mixed clientele but popular with lesbians.
The New York State Liquor Authority revoked its liquor license in 1967. In 1970-71, this was the location of the utopian Gay Community Center, started by the Gay Liberation Front and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.
3
656 Nostrand Avenue
In 1962, openly gay African-American entrepreneur Harold “Mackie” Harris purchased the Starlite Lounge and established it as an LGBT-inclusive bar.
Before being forced to close in 2010 after the building was sold, the Starlite was known as the “oldest black-owned non-discriminating bar in New York” and an important long-time gathering space for the gay black community.
4
Julius'
On April 21, 1966, a “Sip-In” was organized by members of the Mattachine Society, one of the country’s earliest gay rights organizations, to challenge the State Liquor Authority’s discriminatory policy of revoking the licenses of bars that served known or suspected gay men and lesbians.
The publicized event – at which they were refused service after intentionally revealing they were “homosexuals” – was one of the earliest pre-Stonewall public actions for LGBT rights as well as a big step forward in the eventual development of legitimate LGBT bars in New York City.
5
395 West Street
The Ramrod on the Hudson River waterfront was one of New York’s most popular leather bars in the 1970s.
It was the site of one of Greenwich Village’s most notoriously homophobic crimes in 1980.
6
Studio 54
In 1977, Studio 54 opened and became one of the world’s most famous discos with a fusion of gay, bisexual, and straight patrons.
Owners Steven Rubell and Ian Schrager modeled the club after New York’s gay nightclubs, which were setting the trends for music and dance.
7
Paradise Garage
Between 1977 and 1987, the Paradise Garage was one of the most important and influential clubs in New York City with a devoted patronage comprised of sexual and ethnic minorities (primarily African-American gay men).
With resident DJ Larry Levan and other DJs as the center of attention, it influenced dance, music, and culture both nationally and internationally as the birthplace of the modern nightclub.
The building was demolished in 2018, becoming the first loss of an LGBT historic site featured on this website.
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