Old gay bars in new york
One of New York City’s Oldest Gay Bars Is Now a Historic Landmark
The bar was the site of a “sip-in” in 1966, several years before the Stonewall riots
In Modern York City’s West Village, Julius’ Bar is tucked into the first floor of an unassuming beige stucco building. Passersby may notice the rainbow flags in the window—but they may not realize they’re walking past a fresh historic landmark. The block is the site where three activists staged a simple act of complain in 1966: openly announcing they were gay, then ordering a drink.
They called it a “sip-in,” and the three men, members of the Mattachine Culture, an early gay-rights team, were hoping to test the New York Declare Liquor Authority’s ban on serving LGBTQ patrons. A bar could be raided, and its liquor license rescinded, for serving homosexual customers, who were considered “disorderly” under the rule.
Due in part to this lesser-known but pivotal disagree, the New York Metropolis Landmarks Preservation Commission officially designated Julius’ as a historic landmark last week. One of the city’s oldest gay bars, Julius’ had already been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016—along with nearby Stonew
Bars & Nightlife
overview
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 movement 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.
Header Photo
Truman Capote (center) with Liza Minnelli and Steve Rubell at Studio 54 in an undated photo. Photographer and provider unknown.
I can’t remember the first time I visited Julius’ on W10th Street, but it’s been in Modern York significantly longer than I have. When people talk about “old Novel York”, Julius’ is what I see in my head. There are craft pubs today in Peckham that are indistinguishable from their counterparts in Brooklyn, but you can’t bogus Julius’: this is a place that could only exist in New York City. And one sunlight it will close. And when it does, I may leave New York for good.
To walk into Julius’ is to step off one stage place – Greenwich Village’s prettiest intersection – and vertical onto another, a fragrant Edward Hopper painting brought to life
To walk into Julius’ is to step off one stage put – Greenwich Village’s prettiest intersection – and unbent onto another, a fragrant Edward Hopper painting brought to life. There’s the long, long, long dark wood bar that’s been here since the mid 19th century, and looks it; there’s the jukebox and tables at the back, with low-slung lighting. And there’s the unlock kitchen, where someone in an apron is constantly flipping the rank-smelling burgers that have kept many an impoverished young gay going through student days.
Julius’, N
This article originally appeared in the 2015 NYC Celebration Guide. You can verify out the entire digital issue here or pick up pretty much anywhere in the West Village, Chelsea or Hell’s Kitchen this weekend!
Gay and lesbian being in 19th century America meant reading between the lines, latching on to known code words to locate a community buried deep under the mainstream. But you may not have had to view very far in the early 1890s to locate The Slide (at 157 Bleecker Street), once Recent York’s most notorious and flamboyant bars.
We know of its existence primarily due to the pearl-clutching reaction of moral-minded New Yorkers. While you can’t belief police blotters and morality crusaders to give an accurate depiction of what The Slide was truly like, an attempt to peel back the hyperbole provides a sight that would rival the bawdiest gay bars of Hell’s Kitchen.
The Slide was a basement dive, packed every night with men who fancied “male degenerates†and the occasional female looking for something outrageous. Song, drinking and laughter prevailed until the early morning; female prostitutes mingled with the boys to produce what must have been a dizzying stew of
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