Mafia gay bars

Bythe Pompier Restaurant closed with a new bar, Tenth of Always, swiftly taking its place. The bar featured three main rooms and spaces with only one entrance and exit, and minimal windows to the outside world. In Sea Colony opened as a restaurant, but transitioned into a full-time bar and club for women byas recalled by Lesbian Pulp Fiction authors Ann Bannon and Marijane Meaker in their recounting of their visits to the establishment.

Following Prohibitionorganized crime maintained a strong grip on New York City nightlife. When the bar got raided often weeklya red light would flash in the back room, signaling for the women to stop dancing and rush to the tables.

In the 60s and 70s gay bars were run by the Mafia, leaving the LGBTQ+ community vulnerable to exploitation and violence. Owned and operated by the Mafia, Sea Colony still fell victim to many police raids. Discover how the Mafia dominated New York City's gay bars in the s, profiting from LGBTQ+ spaces and sparking a pivotal struggle against exploitation and oppression.

Your email address will not be published. All Campaigns View current and past campaigns to protect landmarked properties. Butches were at heightened risk for being subjected to police brutality. And it was quite the popular spot — openly gay pop art icon Andy Warhol was known to frequent Tenth of Always.

The club was especially popular among African American women.

Shadowed Sanctuaries The Mafia’s

Village Preservation advocates for landmark and zoning protections and monitors proposed and planned developments and alterations to landmarked and historic sites throughout our neighborhoods. The club became a disco haven featuring a pool table, an all-female staff, and tabletops laminated with photographs of women.

The first room featured the front door, the main bar, some seating, and two single-stall restrooms where Mafia owners enforced strict rules—one woman could use the restroom at any given time to prohibit any sexual activity. Most gay bars and clubs in New York at the time were operated by the Mafia, who paid corruptible police officers to look the other way and blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threatening to “out.

The club was an ideal ten-minute walk from the Gay Activist Alliance Firehouse located at 99 Wooster Street, making it the prime hangout spot for members after weekly meetings, art exhibitions, and parties. Our neighborhoods have held a longstanding, deep connection with the queer community, having served as hubs for bars, restaurants, clubs, theaters, and community centers that catered to gay audiences.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The second room was behind the bar and was where customers could enjoy table service.

How the Mafia Once

View applications to the LPC for work on landmarked properties. Village Preservation is dedicated to preserving the architectural heritage and cultural history of Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo. In doing so, they provided essential gathering spaces—though often under exploitative and precarious conditions.

At a time when queer people were criminalized and mainstream venues shut them out, places like Sea Colony and 82 West 3rd Street offered rare sanctuaries—however flawed. In the early 60s, 82 West 3rd Street was better known as the Pompier Restaurant, and was the site where Gambino crime family associate Eddie DeCurtis conducted much of his business.

View current and past campaigns to protect landmarked properties. It was here that Warhol encountered Candy Darlinga transgender icon who went on to become a Warhol Superstar and a muse for the Velvet Underground.